The Moon and the Sea
by HellRayne
Summary: Perseus Jackson, slayer of Kronos and savior of Olympus, does not receive the ending of his namesake, Perseus, son of Zeus. Instead of a happy ending new turmoil begins and a new love is found. (Eventual Pertemis). On indefinite hold. (I'll be back to finish this, life's crazy busy for me right now)
1. Chapter 1

AN: Hey guys , HOA11 here , I hope you enjoy this story ! Please , follow , favorite and review ! I need constructive criticism guys , so that I can smoothen the creases in my writing. Without further ado , let's get on with the story !

DISCLAIMER: All rights to the Percy Jackson universe are reserved by Rick Riordan . I do this for fun and do not gain any monetary benefits from this.

Chapter 1

The Gods of Olympus barged into the throne room in full battle regalia, expecting the fight of their immortal lives. Instead, they found Luke Castellan's body sprawled motionless on the ground while Percy Jackson shakily got to his feet. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena was keeled over sideways, unconscious. Percy, paying no heed to the assembled Gods, stumbled over to her, hoping, praying, that she was still alive. He let out a relieved sigh after he felt her steady pulse.

Percy, overcome with sudden fatigue suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground, unconscious. The Gods exclaimed in alarm. Poseidon rushed forward and fell to his knees, cradling his son's head in his lap "Apollo!" he shouted in panic. Apollo walked over swiftly, kneeling next to his uncle and placed a hand on Percy's forehead. A warm, golden glow spread from his hand into Percy, and after a moment or two, Apollo sighed in relief.

"He's going to be fine" Apollo said, making the other gods sigh in relief, a trait not generally attributed to any of them, except perhaps Hestia. "He used too much of his power, much more than was safe to use." Apollo released a pulse of golden light into Percy and then laid a hand on his uncles shoulder. "He'll be okay in a couple of minutes uncle P" he said comfortingly, sending Poseidon a reassuring smile.

Poseidon, too relieved to speak, nodded, smiling gratefully at his nephew, before looking down at his son with pride.

Apollo, meanwhile, went to check on Annabeth. After diagnosing the problem, he sent a beam of light into her head. "She suffered a minor concussion" he said, rising. "She'll come to right about now."

Sure enough, Annabeth started moaning softly, her hands going to her head. She opened her eyes blearily and looked around with confusion. Suddenly, realization dawned upon her and she looked around wildly, searching for Percy. She got to her feet when she saw Percy and rushed over to him, worriedly looking at his face.

"Will he be alright?" she asked her mother who was looking on silently.

"Yes child, he will be perfectly fine in a few minutes" Athena spoke softly.

"Thank the gods." Annabeth sighed in relief before brushing his hair out of his eyes tenderly.

At her touch, Percy mumbled and moved slightly. Everyone watched with bated breath as he slowly opened his eyes and took in his surroundings.

His eyes focused on Annabeth ."Are you okay Annabeth?" he asked, concern plainly visible in his eyes .

"Yes, Seaweed-Brain, I'm perfectly alright" she said, smiling at his concern for her.

Percy let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he sighed, relaxing. "Hey dad " he spoke softly.

"Son, I cannot tell you how proud I am of what you have accomplished, along with Annabeth" Poseidon replied, smiling at his son.

Percy smiled brightly, happy to hear that his father was proud of him.

"Help me sit up, will you ?" Percy asked his father. "I feel so helpless, just lying on the ground."

Poseidon helped Percy to his feet and pulled him into a hearty embrace. Then he turned and went over to his throne, seating himself, a contented smile on his face. Percy and Annabeth were left in the middle of the room.

Zeus cleared his throat pointedly. "I'm sure I speak for everyone here by requesting a brief summary of how you managed to defeat Kronos" he said gruffly, not pleased at having to speak so politely to a mere mortal.

Percy took a step forward to begin his narration.

"Me and Annabeth came into the throne room as quickly as we could, knowing that Kronos would be here, trying to destroy your thrones, so that he could remove your seats of power and establish himself as ruler of Olympus. I had a brief fight with Chronos in which neither of us landed a serious hit, even though we both managed to land glancing blows on each other."

The Gods' attentions were riveted, as they listened to Percy's tale with utter concentration. After hearing that he had taken on the titan king in single combat and had even managed to land a few hits on him, the looks on their faces changed to those of disguised admiration and awe.

Percy continued, after stopping to take a breath. "Finally, he used his time powers and created a time field around me, slowing my movement drastically." "Then, Annabeth came forward and called out to Luke reminding him of a promise he had made to her, long ago. During the time when Luke, Thalia and Annabeth were running away from the monsters together, Luke promised Annabeth that he would never hurt her" Percy explained, as most of the Gods were probably in the dark about Luke's promise.

Annabeth picked up the story. "He regained control of himself for a brief moment, and motioned for me to give him my dagger. I decided to trust him and handed over my dagger to him and he started peeling off his armor to expose his Achilles spot. When he was about to stab himself in the chest, Kronos managed to take back control of his host body. The last thing I remember is Kronos throwing me to the ground and my head hitting the floor, after which I blacked out."

"When Luke regained control, Kronos' time field failed and I luckily managed to hit his Achilles spot, which was under the breastplate that he had taken off" Percy explained. "As he was dying , he regained control of his body. He begged for forgiveness and said that he'd realized that he had been wrong to join Kronos."

The Gods listened, transfixed, and all of them were amazed by Percy's bravery and humbleness. Here he was, having defeated Kronos, the strongest titan and he was not boasting, even minutely. Even though he had shown great skill in fighting Kronos, he had just attributed it to his being lucky. He really was the greatest hero Olympus had ever seen.

"The rest of the story you know, my Lords and Ladies" said Percy, concluding his report.

Zeus cleared his throat , about to begin his 'grand' speech when suddenly the doors burst open and Thalia raced in, looking for her Seaweed-Brain of a cousin, hoping he hadn't gotten himself injured. She smiled joyously as she saw him with Annabeth relatively unharmed, in the middle of the room. She went over to Percy and hugged him tightly, elated at seeing her pseudo brother safe and sound. After pulling back, she turned to Annabeth and hugged her, relief flooding her system at seeing both of them alive.

"Never thought you cared so much about me, Pinecone-Face" Percy smirked . The expression was mirrored by Annabeth as she saw Thalia's disgruntled look.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever floats your boat, Kelp-Head" she smiled mischievously.

Zeus, tired of being kept out of the spotlight for so long, pointing his symbol of power into the air and released a crackling bolt of electricity, which left behind an acrid smell which Percy recognized as ozone. Everyone turned towards him as he stood from his throne.

"Olympians! Today, because of our might and majesty, Olympus has been saved!" he boomed, puffing out his chest

The majority of the Olympians rolled their eyes, having known this would be coming. After all, Zeus wasn't the God of drama and theatre for nothing.

"Zeus is as humble as ever" Percy whispered to Annabeth, making her stifle a giggle

After a long winded speech in which he praised the bravery of the gods along with their mighty power, Zeus finally acknowledged the Demigods

"However, in this war, we have also been aided by our faithful demigods, without whom Kronos and his army might have been a little more difficult to overcome" he mumbled, getting the words out quickly, as if they were like poison in his mouth.

The Gods shook their heads, bemused, knowing that without the demigods, Olympus might well have been overcome by now and razed to the ground.

"A little more difficult?" Apollo asked, mischievously.

"Okay, okay" grumbled Zeus. "A lot more difficult. Because of their loyalty to Olympus, I suppose some of them should be rewarded." He snapped his finger and suddenly Clarisse La Rue, Connor and Travis Stoll, Nico di Angelo, Grover Underwood and Rachel Elizabeth Dare materialized in the room, surprised expressions adorning their faces.

"Demigods and Mortal, it has been decided that due to your loyalty to Olympus, your courage and strength, you shall be rewarded!" Zeus boomed, determined on keeping himself the center of attention.

"Clarisse La Rue, step forward!" Ares said, looking at his daughter with something bordering on pride.

Clarisse walked forwards, first going to Zeus' throne and kneeling before going to Ares' throne and doing the same. She then straightened and stood beside her father's throne.

Ares gave Clarisse a new, better looking version of 'Maimer', her spear which had shattered in her fight against the Lydian Drakon. He also heightened her battle sense, giving her better reflexes and reaction time during a fight.

"Thank you father" Clarisse murmured, before joining her comrades in the middle of the room again. Ares simply nodded in return.

After Ares resumed his seat, Hermes stood, a happy smile on his face. "Connor and Travis Stoll. My sons, step forward."

Both Connor and Travis kneeled in front of Zeus before kneeling in front of their father. Then, they took up positions on either side of his throne.

Hermes gave each of them a pair of winged shoes, like the ones Luke had had, although he had stolen his pair from his father's palace. Both were sneakers and had wings jutting out of the sides. The only difference was that one pair was red while the other was blue.

"Thanks dad!" Travis and Connor chorused already thinking of the pranks they could play on campers with the help of the flying shoes, even as they went back to where Percy and the others were standing.

Hermes nodded to them and sat down , Apollo taking his place. "Rachel, as you are a mortal, you do not have a godly parent. However, since you can see through the mist and look into the near future, I would like you to offer you the chance of becoming the Oracle of Delphi, to issue prophecies and advise the campers" he said, speaking confidently.

"I humbly accept your offer, my Lord Apollo, and swear allegiance to you" Rachel supplied, stumbling slightly over the words.

Apollo nodded, pleased. He raised his hand and a poison green mist descended upon Rachel, completely engulfing her. She spasmed, as Apollo imbued some of his godly power into her, falling to the ground. After the smoke cleared, she shakily rose to her feet. Her eyes were now shining with hidden power, and had changed color, as they were now green, tinged with blue at the edges. She bowed to Apollo again, before walking back to the group of demigods.

"Grover Underwood, step forward" Zeus spoke commandingly.

Grover shook like a leaf as he walked over to Zeus, his knees shaking. He kneeled before Zeus, eyes fixated on the ground, overwhelmingly shy and terrified before the king Of Gods .

"Since you are not a demigod and thus have no godly parent, I will grant you your reward" Zeus supplied. "You, Grover underwood are now a lord of the wild because Pan has blessed you. To help you on your quest, you are hereby placed on the council of cloven elders, which will help you gain authority and support amongst the satyrs."

"Thank you, my lord Zeus" Grover bleated, a blissful smile on his face, as he all but forgot his fear. It had been his dream to join the council of cloven elders and now he was finally one of them! He was smiling brightly as he rejoined his friends.

Hades stood up from his temporary throne, eyes falling on Nico. "Nico di Angelo, son, step forward" he stated, a brief glimmer of pride passing over his eyes.

Nico kneeled in front of Zeus and then knelt in front of his father. After being told to rise, he took up a position at his father's right hand side.

"Nico, I am pleased to admit that I am very proud of you right now, just as I always was, and always will be. I bestow upon you this sword, 'Executioner'. It is made of Stygian iron and only people who have my blessing may use it" he said solemnly. Nico's eyes widened as he took the blade from his father. It felt perfect in his hand, as if it was designed for him and him alone. It was beautiful balanced and looked deadly because of the aura of darkness exuding from the wickedly sharp, jet black blade.

"Furthermore, with your permission, I will grant you the title of Prince of the Underworld. You shall help me patrol my realm and maintain order as you see fit. What say you?"

"Thank you, father" Nico said, happy to know his father cared about him so much as to offer him such a high position. "I humbly accept this honor."

The Lord of the Underworld smiled briefly at his son before sitting down on his temporary throne. "I will tell you more later" he said, to which Nico nodded his head.

Zeus stood up and called out once more. "Thalia Grace, come forward!" Thalia went over to him and kneeled before his throne. "My daughter, you have made me proud. Joining the hunters of Artemis, and becoming their lieutenant is no small feat and I am proud of you. I will give you the ability to control winds along with heightening your ability of manipulating lighting and thunder."

Thalia nodded gratefully at her father before stepping back.

Athena stood up, a small smile adorning her pale face. "Annabeth Chase, step forward!" she called out, her eyes indicating how proud she was. Her emotionless grey eyes softened for a brief time, enough for her daughter to notice the pride shining in her mother's intimidating grey eyes.

"My daughter, you have done very well, and have made me proud. As you know, when Kronos attacked, he did a great deal of damage to Olympus, before you two ultimately stopped him. As for my gift, I ask that you accept the role of 'Official Architect of Olympus'. If you accept, you will be in charge of redesigning Olympus and may do so to your hearts content" Athena smiled.

Annabeth gasped, all other thoughts momentarily flying out of her head as she realized that her lifelong dream had actually come true. Tears of joy formed in her eyes as she looked at her mother joyfully.

Percy looked on with a slight smile on his face. He knew that it had always been Annabeth's dream to be an architect and to create a monument that would last a thousand years. Her dream, it seemed , had come true, and Percy couldn't be happier for her.

"Thank you for this great honor, my Lords and Ladies" she choked out, thanking them all since she knew it had to be a unanimous decision, as it involved all of them. "I accept your offer with gratitude."

She went back to stand next to Percy , who pulled by her into a brief, strong, one-armed hug. Already, her mind was racing with possibilities and ideas, working in overdrive.

Finally, it was time to reward the hero of Olympus.

"Perseus Jackson!" Poseidon bellowed, pride shining clearly in his ocean green eyes as he eyed his son. "Come forth."

Percy stepped forward and knelt at his father's feet after having done the same in front of Zeus. "Rise, my son" said Poseidon.

He looked around at the assembled Olympian deities. "Does anyone think he is undeserving?" he asked. None of the Olympians argued, all of them knowing and agreeing that Perseus was more than deserving of the greatest honor that could be bestowed upon a demigod.

"Perseus" said Poseidon, addressing his son . "We would like to offer you the gift of immortality and offer you Godhood."

Percy's breath caught, as realization dawned on him that he was being offered Godhood, immortality. However much he loved the idea, one look at Annabeth's shining eyes was enough to make up his mind for him.

"My Lords and Ladies, I respectfully decline" he said clearly.

"WHAT? " shouted Zeus , enraged that anyone would turn down their generous offer. In fact, he was tempted to blast Percy then and there, but he resisted the urge, knowing that doing so would cause him many problems later. He was incensed nonetheless. "YOU WOULD TURN DOWN OUR GENEROUS OFFER ?!" he asked angrily.

All the God's and Goddesses were murmuring quietly amongst themselves, shocked that he had not accepted.

"Hear me out, Lord Zeus " he uttered respectfully. "I am honored that you would offer me Godhood, but my life isn't here, as a god. It is with my friends and my family and I would not be able to bear living without them. Also, I would also be of more help to Olympus if I'm mortal since I would not be restricted by the old laws and would be able to help where gods cannot."

"Hmm" Zeus murmured, seeing the wisdom in the demigod's words. That didn't mean he had to be happy about it. "Well alright then" he grumbled grumpily.

Percy nodded his head gratefully. "However, I do have something else in mind. I want you to swear on the Styx that you will carry out my wishes" he said, determination flashing in his eyes.

Zeus, was torn between declining and accepting because after all, even thought he was a mortal demigod, Percy had been their most useful asset in the war and had proved himself as an excellent warrior and a powerful ally. Finally, he decided to honor the young demigod's wish.

"Alright then" he said. "I swear on the Styx to grant your wishes as long as they are reasonable and within my power to grant." He swore solemnly.

Thunder boomed loudly, as his promise was sealed and made unbreakable.

Perseus nodded gratefully before clearing his throat.

"Lord Zeus, firstly, I request that you Lords and Ladies claim your children as soon as they arrive at camp. Many demigods joined the titans in the war because they felt betrayed by their parents who were supposed to care for them. They were angry that they had been unclaimed by their godly parents and had been left in that state , alone and confused. This anger against you fueled their desire to join Kronos, and many did just that, weakening Olympus by tearing it down from the inside.

Although he would not admit it openly, Zeus could see the wisdom in Perseus' words and decided to honor his request. After looking around the room and seeing that none of the Gods seemed to object, he relented. "I swear upon the Styx to claim my demigod children when they reach camp" he said solemnly as thunder boomed overhead, signaling the acceptance of the oath, sealing it.

One by one, all the Gods and Goddesses except Artemis who remained seated and Hestia, who was viewing the proceedings from the blazing hearth at one side of the room, rose to their feet and swore upon the Styx to claim their children as soon as they reached camp, as they all agreed with Percy's mindset.

Percy nodded, pleased. He then asked Zeus to build cabins at the camp for all the children of the minor gods and goddesses. Many demigods of the minor gods and goddesses joined Kronos because they had been shunned and had not had proper homes at camp and had no place to call their own. They had been given no importance and the resentment they felt towards the Olympians had caused them to join Kronos, in the hopes of receiving better recognition in his ranks.

After once again glancing at the Council, Zeus accepted, agreeing with Perseus' logic yet again, surprised that the Olympians had not thought of doing this before.

"As for my last request, I want you to give both Lady Hestia and Lord Hades their rightful thrones on the Olympian Council " he requested. "Both deserve their thrones, and to be inducted into the Council" Percy said forcefully.

The gods gasped as they comprehended what Percy had just said. Instead of asking for favors for himself, he had decided to help two people who he didn't even know all that well. He really was the perfect hero, placing others needs before his own, and trying to make the world a better place to the best of his abilities.

Zeus, disgruntled, pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing and looking up. Finally, he sent a brief smile toward Hestia and Hades before saying "Welcome to the council, brother, and you as well, sister." The Olympians rose from their thrones and chanted in Greek and when they were done, Zeus raised his hand, causing two new thrones to erupt from the ground .

Hades' throne was as black as night, smooth and glossy, with precious gems embedded in the metal. It glowed with a powerful black aura, marking Hades as one of the elder Olympians .A depiction of his symbol of power, his helm of darkness was etched artistically right above head height, in silver Stygian iron.

Hestia's throne was made of a material much like Olympian silver, but it was a comforting shade of orange-yellow. Her throne gave off an extremely overpowering aura of comfort and hope, marking that Hestia was indeed the eldest Olympian. Her symbol, the hearth, with crackling flames in the middle, was, like Hades' embossed into the throne, right above where her head would be.

Before going over to his throne, Hades came over to Percy and put a hand on his shoulder. "Perseus, I thank you for what you have just done. The underworld is forever in your debt, nephew" he said solemnly.

He then walked over to the throne and reverently seated himself in it, sighing contentedly as he sat down. Hestia came over to Percy and gave him a strong hug to show her appreciation.

"Thank you so much, Percy" she whispered, small tears forming in her eyes, as she struggled to hold in her joy. "The world will never be without hope if there are people like you in it" she said, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek before settling herself on her throne .

"Perseus, is that all ?" Zeus asked wearily.

"Yes, my Lord, I thank you for granting my wishes" Percy said gratefully.

Zeus just nodded gruffly. After that, he visibly cheered up and said "It's time for the celebrations to begin! Tell the muses to crank up their instruments. Dionysus , prepare the wine and tell the nymphs to prepare a banquet!"

Everyone started to trickle out of the throne room to celebrate their victory. Some of the gods stopped by Percy and thanked him for his services. They assured him that they'd stick by their promise and would claim their children as soon as they arrived at camp. Annabeth was by his side the whole time. Finally, the throne room was empty, aside from Percy, Annabeth and Lady Athena who was looking at Percy questioningly from time to time, as if she was trying to figure out something about him.

"Annabeth, go ahead, I'll meet you there in a minute" Percy murmured to her.

Annabeth looked surprised but nodded as she walked out of the throne room, and went to join in the celebrations.

Percy mentally prepared himself and strode over to where Athena was standing, a knowing look on her face.

Percy took a deep breath , steeling his nerves before starting.

"Lady Athena" he began …

AN: There we go , guys , first chappie done ! This chapter was sort of a prologue, to indicate the story's time line and current status so it was short-ish (4200 words). Chapters will hopefully get longer after this. To those of you who have read, thank you so much for giving an aspiring young writer a chance! Love ya guys !


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Guys, I can never express enough gratefulness to you guys who gave my story a chance and followed, reviewed and favorited it. Shoutout to The YoLo Man and Dragonborn053 who have reviewed this story. I'll try to do my best to get chapters out as fast as possible while maintaining quality. I am a very busy person, with school and all, therefore I may not be able to update regularly. I'll try my level best to ensure weekend updates.

Now that I'm done with that long-ass authors note, let's get on with the story !

Disclaimer: All rights to the Percy Jackson universe are reserved by Rick Riordan . I do this for fun and do not gain any monetary benefits from this.

Chapter 2

Percy took a deep breath, steeling his nerves before starting.

"Lady Athena" he began, trying not to stumble over his words. "I was hoping that you would give me permission to court Annabeth, now that the war is over, and we are in relative safety for the time being, at least" said Percy, hope creeping into his voice.

Athena looked at him with her piercing grey eyes, and Percy felt as if his very soul was being analyzed. A few moments crept by and Percy began to get unsettled by Athena's piercing gaze. After what seemed like an eternity, Athena spoke.

"Perseus, I am very glad that you asked me before trying to date Annabeth even though you could have gone ahead and gone through with it without asking me" she said. "I have considered the pros and cons of this arrangement and can find nothing that would put my daughter in any particular danger. Actually, you would be a benefit as you would be able to protect my daughter and would not betray her, your fatal flaw being loyalty."

Percy's eyes lit up at Athena's statement, hoping against hope that she would give him her blessing to be with Annabeth. That is, until he realized that Athena was not going to give him her blessing as easily as that.

As if she was reading his mind, Athena said "That put aside, did you really think that I'd allow you to be with my favored daughter without testing you first?"

Percy groaned inside his head, but outwardly, he put on a confident façade. "I knew that you would want to test me, lady Athena, before you would give me your blessing, and I have readied myself for this occasion. I will do anything I can to be with Annabeth, and I'll do my best to pass your tests."

Athena nodded, pleased with his reply, and with his fiery determination to do all he could to be with Annabeth. "Meet me at the camp border one week from now and we shall begin your first test."

Percy bowed low before replying "Your will, milady" before leaving the throne room to join in the celebrations.

As soon as he exited the throne room, his senses were assaulted with wonderful smells, coming from the food, which had been set on a long table made of dark mahogany wood. Many people were talking cheerily, finally relaxing, the threat to Olympus having finally been dealt with.

Suddenly Annabeth crashed into him, hugging him with all her might. Percy hugged her back, a happy smile on his face. After a few seconds, both of them drew back, with slight blushes on their faces.

"I wanted to do that in the throne room but didn't know what the gods would say" Annabeth said shyly

"Aww, I never knew you ever felt emotion" Percy said, a teasing tone creeping into his voice.

Annabeth slugged him in the arm, making him wince.

"Aww, does the baby have a boo-hoo? " Annabeth questioned, having noticed him wince involuntarily.

Percy just huffed, choosing not to reply. Inside, he was elated that the war was over and that now he could get on with his life. He continued the banter with Annabeth, being joined by Thalia after a short period of time. A while passed before Nico arrived as well.

Percy gave Nico a tight man hug, one which Nico returned with equal fervor. The two were more than just cousins, sharing a sibling bond as Percy had filled the void in Nico's life after Bianca had died. Percy shared a similar relationship with Thalia, and the three were like close siblings, always at each others throats, arguing and making fun of each other, yet, either of them would lay down their lives for any one of the others without a hint of hesitation.

The four stayed together, enjoying each others company. Occasionally, one of the Gods would come over to congratulate Percy and Annabeth for defeating Kronos. Apollo and Hermes had a spirited, fun conversation with Percy. They finally went away, Apollo in the process of composing a haiku about the wars' end while Hermes tried to separate George and Martha, the constantly warring snakes on his caduceus.

After a few hours, as things began to wrap up, Artemis came over to collect Thalia. She gave Percy a look of grudging respect, choosing not to say anything other than a short 'thank you'.

Percy said that no thanks were necessary as he was just fighting for what he believed was right and was simply doing his duty. At this, she simply nodded regally and told Thalia to come along as they were going to join the hunt who were camped in central park for the time being.

After a last round of farewells, the quartet broke up as Thalia went with Artemis and Nico went along with Hades, who had come to collect him. Percy and Annabeth were about to head back to camp when Poseidon came over and hugged his son tightly, expressing his pride yet again. Poseidon then flashed them to camp half blood where they were met with cheers from the campers.

They were mobbed by the campers and lifted onto multiple shoulders. They were carried to the campfire before they were set down. Almost all of the campers came over to congratulate the duo and ask them multiple questions about their final defense of Olympus.

It was after a long time that Percy and Annabeth were able to break away from the still celebrating campers, and walked together with no particular location in their mind. They ended up on the beach and Percy immediately laid down on the sand near the water, and Annabeth laid down alongside him. They spent a few moments in silence as Percy took in the refreshing smell of the sea.

"So, earlier, what did you say to my mother?" Annabeth asked, a curious glint in her eye.

Percy wanted it to be a surprise however, so he merely said that Athena had wanted to congratulate him in person.

Annabeth felt suspicion, deep down, but she pushed it away, knowing that Percy would not do anything that would endanger her.

The two spent a long time together, stealing kisses here and there, just enjoying each others closeness and company.

After an indefinite amount of time, they got up and after wishing each other a good night, went back to their respective cabins.

Percy entered his cabin and undressed down to his night clothes, before falling into his bed tiredly. He was asleep within a minute of his head hitting the pillow.

 **TIME SKIP: (Six months)**

Percy lay in his bed in the cabin, contemplating everything that had happened over the past six months.

Since the first time Athena started testing him, Percy knew that there was still a long arduous journey still left ahead of him before he could be with Annabeth.

Athena had put him through brutal tests, appearing weekly and taking him to different locations where she would test him, both mentally and physically.

Percy was made to fight hordes upon hordes of monsters all at once, do several written exams that had his head reeling and was tested mentally by Athena in real life situations. He recalled the conversation he had had last time with Athena when she dropped him off at camp after a particularly difficult challenge where he had had to fight a group of cyclopes, simultaneously answering some rather difficult questions that were being thrown at him by Athena.

 **Flashback ('*' indicates flashback. Present at beginning and end of flashback)**

 ***** Athena flashed them to the camp borders and turned towards the physically and mentally exhausted demigod. She was astounded that Percy had managed to overcome each and every challenge she had given him, usually with flying colors although his results could have been slightly better on his written exams which wasn't really a problem. She would never admit to Percy just how pleased she was with him.

"Perseus, next week, you will face your last challenge. If you pass this one, I will give you my full blessing to be with Annabeth, provided that you survive. You will be tested both mentally and physically and I am sure without a doubt, that this will be your toughest challenge yet, right up there with when you fought Kronos.

Percy paled dramatically. Athena's challenges had not been a walk in the park, to put it lightly, and hearing that he was going to be facing such a hard challenge caused him no small amount of anxiousness.

Even though he was worried, he nodded confidently. "I will do my level to pass your challenge, milady" he said.

Athena nodded, the corners of her mouth turning up into a small smile. "You have done admirably Perseus, and I have no doubt that if any hero can overcome the challenge I have set, it would be you."

Percy had rarely heard such praise from the Goddess of wisdom. He acknowledged it with a grateful nod of his head before saying farewell to Athena and stumbling towards his cabin, intent on getting as much sleep as he could.*

 **Flashback End (just making it clear :D)**

As Percy broke out of his reverie he turned his thoughts to the other major problem that had been weighing heavily on his mind.

He had noticed that Annabeth was suspicious of where he would go, often for prolonged periods of time, as some of the challenges he had to face would be spaced out over periods of several days. She had taken to venturing out into the mortal world more and more, and would rarely stay around him for prolonged periods of time.

He sighed unhappily, as he recalled the last time they had had an argument. It had been two days earlier and Annabeth had come into his room, intent on getting to the bottom of his consistent disappearances.

As usual, he had brushed her questions aside, telling her as much as he could, but not telling her everything due to Athena's wish to keep silent on the matter. This had lead to Annabeth storming out of his cabin's door, leaving him confused as to what he should do.

His mind kept returning to Annabeth's suspicion which always managed to sadden him. He perked up when he realized that tomorrow, after conquering his final challenge, he would finally get Athena's blessing to be with Annabeth.

Athena found him in the same position, a few minutes later, when she came to take him to the destination of his final hurdle.

"Perseus" she said, breaking him from his reverie. "Are you ready?" she asked simply.

"I am" Percy replied, trying to be as confident as possible.

Athena flashed them to their location and Percy gasped as he realized where they were.

They were on Mt Tam, where he had come a couple of years ago with Thalia, Zöe Nightshade and Bianca di Angelo on a quest to save both Artemis and Annabeth. He recognized the garden of the Hesperides, which was directly in front of him, and he could see, from afar, the titan fortress where Atlas held up the sky.

He turned to Athena, a questioning look in his eyes, knowing that he was not going to like what he heard. In spite of that he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.

"Perseus, you must enter the garden of the Hesperides and defeat Ladon. Once you have done so, he will allow you to take golden apples from the tree of immortality, as he will recognize you as his master alongside the Hesperides.

Percy's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates as his mind grasped what Athena was telling him. An image of Luke flashed before his eyes, the scar on his face horribly ominous. Luke too, had tried to get an apple from the garden and had failed. Only the sudden arrival of Hermes had saved him from death.

Aside from that, he did not make any indication that he was alarmed by her instructions.

He simply nodded, and bowed to her. "I will do as you command, milady" he said.

Athena just nodded, and Percy was amazed by what he saw as he caught a brief flicker in her eyes. With a start he realized that the look in her eyes was one of pride. He had only seen that look in her eyes when she had been looking at Annabeth, right after they had defeated Kronos.

He mentally steeled himself and put all his focus toward the task at hand. He had to admit, that even though Athena's tests had been extremely difficult, they had given him mental skills that he had not had before. He could now multitask on several objectives without much effort and his battle sense had heightened considerably.

His body had filled out more as well, and he had developed full eight pack abs. He now had a more rugged look to his face, which too, had filled out rather well.

He entered the garden, trying to keep his composure. His eyes fell upon Ladon and he gasped, amazed at the size of the monstrosity that was curled around the tree of immortality. Ladon had rust red skin and his eyes looked evil, with red irises, surrounded by harsh orange pupils. There were spikes protruding from the top of his tail, spikes that could skewer Percy as easily as a fork would skewer tender meat.

Ladon exuded an air of evilness that Percy had only felt in one other, and that was Kronos. However, what unsettled Percy most of all was Ladon's 100 heads, lying here and there. Some of them were coiled around the tree while some rested on the ground. 10 of them, however, were in the air, looking around for a conceivable threat.

Already, Ladon had noticed Percy, and had stiffened, somehow knowing that Percy was a threat. Even though he saw Percy as a threat , Ladon did not raise his heads, thinking that Percy was not the kind of large threat that had to be dealt with immediately. The dragon waited lazily for Percy to draw near so that he could snap him up as soon as he was within reach.

Percy drew forward slowly, not wanting to spur Ladon into action first, knowing that he would get no chance to defeat Ladon if the dragon was allowed to strike first. In his peripheral vision, he saw the Hesperides in the far corner of the garden, looking at him curiously, not believing that a mortal had dared to enter the garden while Ladon kept watch.

As he drew nearer, Percy's mind went into overdrive, going through every possible way in which he could challenge Ladon and the possible outcomes.

Ladon would be hard to take down as his heads would cover all angles, with some to spare and so, it would be almost impossible to catch Ladon off guard.

His best chance would be to catch the dragon when he was unprepared and take down as any of his heads as he could before Ladon was able to respond. After that, he would have to wing it, doing all he could to not die, and dish out as much damage as he could in the meantime.

Coming to this conclusion, Percy drew riptide, and without warning, he rushed forwards and started hacking away at Ladon's heads, swishing his sword in a smooth, whirling motion from side to side, taking away six of Ladon heads. He followed up with a thrust, slashing one head off with a jerk when the sword went through another of Ladon's heads.

He was beginning to feel pretty confident about his odds, when Ladon suddenly swung into action, a dozen of his heads coming down at once, trying to trap Percy in his jaws. Percy was amazed at the coordination between his heads as one seemed to replace the other as soon as it drew back after an attack. It was all Percy could do to not be cut to ribbons by Ladon's razor sharp teeth. He frantically dived to his side, dodging one of Ladon's heads, while slashing at another, cutting it clean off. As he fell to the ground, he tried to roll, only to have the wind knocked out of him as he flew backwards, having been hit by Ladon's tail, which he had forgotten about.

His body dug a shallow furrow into the ground when it hit, rattling Percy. He painfully got to his feet and rushed Ladon again. As the fight continued, Percy noticed that Ladon would balk at moving away from the tree. Deciding to use this to his advantage, Percy attacked Ladon and when he was within reach, swung at one of his heads, severing it from his body before darting away quickly, After having 10 of his heads taken off this way, Ladon threw caution to the winds and started attacking in earnest. Percy attacked again, intending to strike before rolling away. As he struck, Percy suddenly realized his mistake. He had been so preoccupied in his attacks that'd had failed to notice Ladon shift his body away from the tree and towards him.

Ladon now attacked from all sides, pushing Percy to the max in order to defend himself. Despite Percy's best efforts, he began getting knocked around by Ladon, even though he managed to take down several of his heads. However, Percy knew that if the fight continued like this, he would be overcome quickly, so he decided to switch it up. When one of Ladon's heads swiped at him again, he jumped, catching Ladon by surprise, and hung onto his head for dear life as it flailed about, trying to throw him off. In a swift stroke, Percy cut off the heads and as he fell to the ground, threw riptide in an arc. It sliced through 6 heads before completing it's circular circuit and returning to Percy.

Percy backed away to catch a breath and in doing so , noticed that Ladon had only thirty or so heads remaining. However , Percy was tired and had numerous scrapes and cuts adorning his body. There was no water nearby from which he could rejuvenate himself. His back ached from when Ladon had thrown him and his body felt as heavy as lead.

Tiredly, he wiped the sweat from his brow and got ready to attack again. He dashed forward and slid beneath Ladon's body, stopping when he was behind the beast. He leapt to his feet and cut off a couple of Ladon's heads before being forced on the defensive as the dragon tried his best to eliminate Percy from the face of the earth.

Growing desperate, Ladon sped up his strikes even more. Percy was forced to move at superhuman speeds to avoid Ladon, even for a few seconds. Out of nowhere, one of Ladon's heads made contact with Percy's body while he was fending another and he was thrown into the air. As he fell back to the ground, Ladon got ready to finish him off. He opened one of his mouths and got ready to swallow Percy. However, Percy had not fought the titan king and lived for no reason.

He flipped in mid air until he was facing downward, and as Ladon's head snapped at him, he twirled away in midair and slashed his sword wildly. He was rewarded by the sight of Ladon's head falling to the ground. He fell to the ground, winded. He noticed that Ladon only had ten of his heads remaining. The whole of Ladon's body was covered in blood from his severed heads and one of his legs had gone limp. He was a pitiful sight to behold and he now cowered away from Percy .

Percy himself didn't look much better. He had nearly cracked a rib from when he fell to the ground after Ladon had thrown him to the ground and the wind had been knocked right out of him yet again. Despite this he threw himself at Ladon yet again, intent on finishing what he had started. He rushed forward and started hacking and slashing and had cut off three more heads when Ladon swung his whole body around and with all his power smashed his tail into Percy. One of the spikes grazed Percy making him cry out and he was thrown backwards by the crushing force of the blow.

Percy felt pain in every fiber of his being and found himself unable to get up. He was about to give up and just accept his fate when suddenly an image of Annabeth flashed into his line of sight. "you're just gonna give up seaweed brain ?" she asked furiously. "Don't you want to give this a chance ?" she said, gesturing between herself and Percy. "You can do it Percy!"

It was as if the words of the spectre-Annabeth had given him an infusion of ambrosia or nectar, filling him with energy Percy got up and charged Ladon with renewed vigor. Ladon desperately tried to fend off Percy's savage blows but failed as Percy hacked and slashed at Ladon's heads, taking them off. Percy continued wildly striking Ladon and after a final downwards slash, he stepped back to view his handiwork.

Ladon only had one head left and his body had been reduced to a bloody mess. One of his legs had gone limp and there were deep gashes across his body. He had been completed and utterly defeated. Percy capped riptide and put it into his pocket. He knew that once Ladon had only one head left , he would not show any aggression and let him take apples from the tree.

As he put riptide back into his pocket , he noticed that something was happening to Ladon . The dragons' wounds were slowly healing and the cut skin was knitting back together. Heads started popping from his neck and grew to their original size. In just a few minutes Ladon had been fully restored to his original strength and majesty.

Percy looked on apprehensively , knowing that if the dragon attacked him now , he would have no chance. However , Ladon made no move to attack Percy even when the demigod took a step towards the tree. Percy breathed a relieved sigh. He remembered that Athena had told him to collect all the apples that were presently on the tree , so he moved forwards to attempt to pick the apples.

There were 19 in all and were a rich golden in color. The apples emitted an ethereal golden sheen.

Before he could pick the apples though, the adrenaline that had been previously rushing through his system left him and he fell to the ground, letting out a painful breath. He felt a hand on his shoulder and noticed that it was one of the Hesperides kneeling by him.

She looked upon him with a look of respect and awe. "Percy Jackson, you have defeated Ladon and thus, you have proven yourself as one of the greatest demigod heroes. Therefore, we will help you to the best of our abilities" she said, speaking for herself and her sisters.

One of the other Hesperides came over with a bottle of nectar and poured it skillfully onto his wounds , effectively sealing them and rejuvenating him. Percy gave a grateful nod of thanks and sat up, noting that even though the nectar had sealed his wounds, the ache in his body had not fully subsided. He knew that despite taking the godly food, the pain would not fully subside immediately.

As he sat up, another of the Hesperides handed him a bag. Put the apples into these, hero, she said. After making sure that Percy could get up himself, the Hesperides retreated to the other side of the garden, although they continued watching him.

Percy picked the apples from the tree and then headed over to the edge of the garden where Athena was waiting for him, an impassive look upon her face. The looked changed into one of pride when Percy climbed over the short fence and bowed to her before handing her the apples.

"Perseus, you have accomplished something that has never been accomplished before and have proved yourself entirely worthy of being with Annabeth if you so wish" she said, a gentle smile adorning her face. She then handed the bag containing the apples back to him. "You have earned these Perseus. Do with them as you wish."

Percy's eyes widened comically and he nodded gratefully. "Thank you, lady Athena" he said. "If you would, please keep the apples in your possession until I need them. One of them I would like for you to take" he said humbly.

Athena's emotionless façade nearly broke in the face of her overwhelming surprise but she forced herself to keep it intact as she accepted with a nod of her head. "They will come to you when you need, Perseus."

Percy nodded his head gratefully. "I have something for you, by the way" Athena said.

Percy looked on inquisitively as Athena reached into her pocket and took out a white velvet box. She opened it and Percy gasped. Inside was a platinum ring with owls carved into the metal and wave-like patterns adorning the ring. In the middle was a single diamond which was flanked on both sides by two smaller amethysts. The whole ring looked very elegant and well designed. Inside the band, in elegant , flowing script were engraved the words "To Wise-Girl: Always and forever. Your Seaweed-Brain."

She held out the box and Percy took it from Athena with shaking fingers, not knowing what to say. Finally he managed to speak. "Ttthank you ssso much, milady" he said stammering out the words.

Athena acknowledged him with a short nod of her head as she herself wasn't an emotional, expressive person. She did however say "Good luck Perseus, but remember this. You hurt my favorite daughter and you will not like the consequences, to say the least" she said menacingly, getting her point across clearly, if Percy's rapidly paling face was any indication.

He gave an audible gulp and nodded dumbly. Athena's lips quirked upward into a satisfied smirk before she flashed Perseus back to camp and teleported herself to Olympus.

Percy was teleported onto his cabin, just as he always had been after facing every challenge set for him by Athena.

He slumped onto his bed tiredly. He had intended to find Annabeth just as soon as he came back, but a quick glance at the clock above his cabin door told him that it was past midnight. He decided that he would rest for now and find Annabeth first thing the next day. He slipped into the realm of Morpheus mere seconds after his head hit the pillow.

Meanwhile, in the Athena cabin, Annabeth sat awake, staring out of the window at the stars. She was thinking about what was going on with Percy and how they had become so distant in such a short amount of time. Just before the titan war, they used to be inseparable but now Percy would disappear for days on end and would not even tell her where he was going.

When she asked him about his disappearances, he would change the topic or brush aside her questions. She had tried to quell her doubts that he was meeting another girl behind her back. Even though she knew deep inside her that Percy would never betray her, her logical brain was winning the battle against her heart.

Her own thoughts had lately been wandering to the fact that she wanted to go to college. She had applied for several colleges and had now gotten accepted into Harvard, majoring in architecture. She had grown tired of her life in the demigod world and wanted to start a safe, secure life in the mortal world. She had waited for Percy to make a move to propose to her but it hadn't happened yet and she was tired of waiting. And so it was that Annabeth steeled herself to break up with Percy as she slipped into a troubled sleep.

Percy woke up the next morning and opened his eyes blearily. All at once, he remembered that he had passed his final test and was now free to propose to Annabeth. He put his hand into his pocket where he had put the ring Athena gave him last night, to make sure that it hadn't all been a dream.

His eyes lit up and he smiled when he saw that the box containing the ring was in fact safe in his pocket. He jumped to his feet and was about to throw open the door when a bright flash lit up his cabin. When the light dimmed again and his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he looked for the source of the flash.

Standing there together, were Hera, his least favourite Olympian goddess and Hestia, one of the deities he respected the most. Hera's expression was impassive, giving nothing away. Hestia was wearing a sad smile as she looked at him.

Hestia came forward and wrapped Percy into a hug, surprising him.

"I'm sorry for what is about to happen, Perseus" she whispered. "I did all I could to try and stop the council, but I was overruled."

Hera took a step forward and spoke. "Perseus, I know that you do not think kindly of me and I am sorry for my past actions toward you. I, being the goddess of marriage don't want the gods to have children with mortal women behind their godly spouse's back. I transfer that hate to you demigods, even though it is not your fault and none of you deserve it. After all, what choice did you have in your birth? Hestia has helped me understand and in retrospect, I am deeply ashamed of my past actions towards you and I will do my best to make amends. Perseus, please accept my heartfelt apology."

Percy was very surprised by Hera's words, nonetheless he nodded gratefully at her apology. "Lady Hera, of course I accept your apology and forgive you. I can understand how hard it would've been for you to take the gods' betrayals lightly."

Hera was awed by Percy and amazed at how easily he had forgiven her. She knew that she had made the right choice and vowed to herself that she would no longer project her hate onto demigods, them being innocent of any wrongdoing.

Outwardly, Hera simply nodded at Percy.

"This, however, is not the only reason we came here, Percy" Hestia spoke up. "The next great prophecy has been revealed. It foretells that the earth mother, Gaea will rise again. Her children, the gigantes shall rise before her, under her command. To fight them, the two camps will need to unite."

"Two camps?" questioned Percy.

"Yes Percy, two camps" said Hera. This is the first, composed of Greeks and the second is composed of Romans, and is located in the Oakland Hills near San Francisco. It is called camp Jupiter. In it reside the demigods that have been born of the gods when they were in their Roman aspects."

"Wow" Percy said, awed by this development and slightly confused as to how the gods could have two aspects. "Anyways, what's this got to do with me?" he questioned.

"Well, the gods decided that one demigod from each camp would be taken from their camp and relocated into the other" explained Hestia. "It was thought that the leaders of each camp should be transferred.

"You've got to be joking!" yelled a suddenly enraged son of Poseidon. "Why can't I ever get a break?"

Hestia and Hera both looked at him compassionately.

Hera broke the sudden silence that had descended on the trio. "The gods wanted to wipe both your memories but me, Hestia and Poseidon and Hades, along with Artemis and Apollo, demanded that we do not erase your memory. The council finally agreed to leave your memory intact. However, they will erase the memory of the demigod who will be transferred from the Roman camp to camp half-blood."

Percy nodded gratefully at the two Olympian deities. His expression changed into one of sadness. "I was going to propose to Annabeth today."

"We know about that, Perseus, and therefore, we agreed that without telling the council, we will give you a chance to talk to Annabeth before you leave" said Hera.

"Thank you, milady, I am forever in your debt" Percy said with relief and a large amount of gratitude although he was still miffed about this development.

Hera acknowledged this with a nod before saying "We will wait in your cabin, Perseus. Return here when you have talked to Annabeth."

"Good luck with the proposal!" Hestia said excitedly.

Percy bowed to each goddess, then left the cabin in search of Annabeth. After a short search, he found her near the beach, sitting in the sand.

"Hey Wise-Girl, how'r ya doing?" he questioned.

"I have to talk to you Percy" she said seriously, turning to look at him. "I've been thinking and I've decided that I want to go to college and live in the mortal world. I want to leave this world and everyone I knew in it behind. Percy, I've decided to break up with you."

"Annabeth, no !" said Percy quickly, trying to grab her hand.

She pulled it away from him and said "Percy, look, I really wanna leave all this behind. Settle in and have a normal life. Aside from that, you've been disappearing for days on end, and I don't know what you've been up to or where you've been. How do I know you weren't with someone else? I'm sorry but I just can't see this working out between us. I guess children of Athena and Poseidon just aren't meant to be" she said, pulling away from him and getting up.

"Goodbye, Seaweed-Brain" she said, turning around to leave.

"Annabeth, do you really think that after all this time, I'd betray you and throw you away like a rag doll?" Percy questioned with an expression filled with hurt and sorrow. "For your information, all this time I've been facing challenges thrown at me by Athena, just to prove that I was worthy of you. With Athena's help, I even applied for the same colleges you applied for, so that we could be together even if you wanted to go to college. I was planning to propose to you today, ring and all. I guess I'm just never going to get a break" he said sarcastically, taking a velvet box out of his pocket and tossing it to the ground near her feet.

Annabeth stopped in her tracks at his words, each of his sentences hitting her like a hammer blow to the chest. Tears formed in her eyes as she thought about her actions. She feebly tried to reach for Percy's hand, but he drew away from her, hurt and anger in his eyes.

"No, Annabeth, it's over. We're done. Maybe children of Athena aren't meant to mix with children of Poseidon after all" he said, mimicking her. He stepped away from Annabeth who was standing stock still with tears in her eyes. "Goodbye Annabeth."

Eyes filled with pain, Percy walked towards his cabin.

As he entered, both goddesses looked at him with pity. "I'm so sorry, Percy" Hestia said, wrapping Percy in a comforting hug, sending an infusion of hope into him at the same time.

"I guess we just weren't meant to be, lady Hestia. Thank you for trying to comfort me anyways."

Hera also had an empathetic look on her face. "It's time to leave, Perseus."

Percy nodded. "I'd like to see my mom before I go, to say goodbye."

"Of course" said the queen of the gods.

There was a bright flash and he was standing outside the apartment building where his mother lived with Paul.

"I will return in 15 minutes" Hera said, before flashing away.

Percy entered the building and reached his mom's apartment door a minute later, to find it wide open. A shiver of apprehension went up his spine as he entered the apartment. What he saw inside chilled him to the bone. On the ground in front of him was Paul's lifeless body. He had, it seemed, been stabbed in the chest multiple times. His throat had also been slit. There was no way he was alive.

As he looked at his step father's lifeless body, a short burst of laughter suddenly snatched him from his thoughts. He got up, uncapping riptide, as he moved into the living room. Inside, his mother was surrounded by three dracaenas.

As he began to sneak up on them, one of the snake women stabbed his mother through her abdomen, causing Sally to scream. Percy suddenly saw red at the edges of his vision as all coherent thoughts flew out of his mind. He charged forwards and decapitated two of the dracaenas with a single stroke of riptide, before, faster than thought, he whirled and stabbed the third through her heart.

In under 5 seconds, all of the dracaenas had been reduced to golden dust. Percy rushed to his mother and cradled her head in his lap. She opened her eyes weakly and looked at him with love in her eyes.

"Mom, you can't die on me! Please, just stay awake, I'll call for help" said Percy, trying to get up.

"No Percy " Sally said weakly. "We both know I'm going to die. I want you to know that I am the proudest mother to have ever lived to have you as my son. I love you so much, Percy. Please, live the life you deserve. You'd better not spend your life mourning over my death and blaming yourself for it. I love you, Percy"

"I love you too, mom, more than I'll ever be able to tell you" said Percy, a lone tear escaping his eye as the realization dawned on him. His mother was going to die.

Sally smiled contentedly and leaned her head back as her body relaxed. She smiled up at Percy with adoration and love one last time.

Percy suppressed a sob as her head fell back and Sally Jackson breathed her last. As she went limp, the dam broke and Percy wailed in grief, misery and despair.

When Hera and Hestia flashed in 15 minutes later, they found Percy clutching desperately at his mother's limp body. Immediately, they accessed the situation and Hestia came over and wrapped him into a comforting hug. She sent waves of hope into him, hoping that he had not lost his resolve and his will to live.

Percy hung onto her like a lifeline, trying to keep himself from the brink of losing himself in his despair. He stayed in her embrace for heavens knew how long. After an indefinite amount of time, Percy pulled away from Hestia. He looked at the goddess of the hearth gratefully.

"Thank you, lady Hestia. Forgive me."

"The least I could do for you, Perseus" she replied warmly.

Hera had stood by all along, looking uncomfortable. She now came forward and put her hand on Percy's shoulder, silently offering him support.

After a couple seconds, Percy spoke. "My ladies, I've got to bury them, would you please allow me to ?" he said brokenly.

This time, it was Hera who spoke. "Of course."

"Can you take us to Montauk beach please?" he asked. "I know mom would've wanted to be sent off there."

Without a word, Hestia flashed him to Montauk beach. As Percy looked around, he noticed the deserted stretch of beach where his mother used to bring him when they wanted to get away from Gabe. In the distance, about a hundred yards away, he could make out the silhouette of the small cabin where they had stayed many a summer.

He smiled weakly as joyous memories flashed by him. Swimming in the sea, talks with his mother, his mother making him blue pancakes and blue cookies. Suddenly, a wave of sadness passed through him as he recollected his mother's hugs, that made him feel warm, and comfortable and protected.

He came out of his reverie and noticed that the bodies of his parents were now encased in burial shrouds. Both Hestia and Hera were looking at him compassionately, not wanting to disturb him.

Percy went to Paul's shroud first. "Paul, I know we didn't spend nearly enough time together, but I can honestly say that you were an amazing person and I can think of no one else more worthy of marrying my mother. I'm sure you'll get into Elysium. Goodbye, Paul."

Then came the moment he had been dreading the most. As he neared his mother's shroud, his eyes teared up and he shook with sadness. "Mom, I really hate that we didn't have more time to spend with each other, and I'm really sorry for that. I know that you're going to a better place, and I'm happy for you. Even though I know that. it's still hard for me to grasp the fact that you won't be there anymore. I'll miss you so much mom" he said, tears making their way down his face. I'll try my best to do as you asked and move on. I love you mom, more than you'll ever know."

He stepped away from his mother's shroud, and nodded at the two goddesses. At the nod, Hestia laid the bodies on a wooden raft and settled the shrouds on it before materializing an intricate golden torch into her hand. She handed it to Percy solemnly before stepping back.

Percy took the torch and with reverence , touched it to his parents' shrouds one by one. He then pushed the raft outwards and willed the currents to carry the raft away from the shore. He watched silently as the raft made its way over the waves until he could see it no more.

As it disappeared from his view, Percy broke down. As he did , he noticed a pair of arms around him. With a start, he realized that the comforting embrace was just like his mother's. Warm, comforting and filled with understanding, love and care.

He looked into Hestia's eyes and saw his own face reflected back in her warm, brown eyes. He found infinite comfort and solace in her embrace.

As Hestia pulled back, Hera came forward and hesitantly, hugged him. Percy hid his surprise at the action from the queen of the gods, never having dreamt that this was going to happen. However, surprisingly, he found comfort in her hug as well. It was startlingly alike to how he felt when he was hugged by his mother. Whereas Hestia's hug had made him feel cared for and loved, Hera's hug made him feel protected and safe.

She pulled back and looked at him reassuringly.

Percy nodded at both the goddesses, being unable to speak for the moment. After a while, he broke the silence. "I know she wanted me to move and not grieve for her, but it's just so hard" he whispered.

Hestia and Hera looked into each others eyes and Percy knew that they were having a silent conversation. After a few moments, as if they had reached a silent agreement, Hestia nodded at Hera who nodded back.

"I know no one can completely fill the void in you after your mother has passed on but I… we would like it if you gave us a chance to soften the blow" said Hestia.

"Of course" said Percy, raising an eyebrow inquisitively, wondering what the goddesses were going to suggest.

Hestia looked at him hesitantly, wondering how he would react.

"We were wondering if you would like to become our champion" she said hopefully.

Percy looked at both the goddesses, an incredulous look upon his face. "I…I… I don't know what to say" he stammered out finally.

Hera hesitantly spoke "As you may know, neither of us has had a champion before, but we have both decided that you are the best to be our first champion. If you choose to become our champion, you will have access to some or all of our powers along with becoming linked to us. We will be able to communicate through our minds and whatnot along with some unknown changes."

Percy looked at both deities in awe before bowing low. "I would be honored, miladies" he said.

Hestia gave him a bright smile while Hera smiled too, although hers was more reserved than Hestia's.

"I'll go first" Hestia said excitedly.

At Percy's nod, she held out her hands, palms outward and began chanting in Greek. A bolt of warm orange light -the color of her hearth- shot out of her palms and went into Percy. Percy felt a rush of power enter him as she continued her chant. After a minute or so, she stopped her chant and stepped forward to observe Percy.

She looked into his eyes and gasped in wonder. Percy looked at her quizzically and was about to ask what was wrong when Hera cut in. She too had been looking at Percy's eyes in wonder.

She repeated the same chant as Hestia, only, the light that shot out of her palms was bright white, with a few rays of sky blue.

As she finished her chant, Percy felt another rush of power hit him.

Wordlessly, Hestia conjured a mirror and held it up for him to see his reflection. Percy gasped at the image he saw reflected back at him. His face had somehow filled out even more and his higher cheekbones put emphasis on his face. The most startling difference in his appearance however, were his eyes. They retained the same sea green around the edges but were now rimmed with orange and flecked with pure white in the middle.

They gave him an intimidating look when he glared but the ethereal orbs had a certain awe-inspiring beauty to them as well.

His arms had somehow grown even more muscled and his height had risen a couple inches, putting him at 6' 2".

He looked awed before muttering "Wicked! Wait till the guys at camp see these!"

He then looked at both goddesses like a child at Christmas before asking "What new powers do I get?"

Hestia spoke first. She reached out with her senses, feeling the powers he had gotten before answering his question. "You have received from me the ability to use fire, the ability to manipulate hope which means you can infuse someone with hope, even though all may seem to be lost. You have also received the ability to summon any meal you may be able to think of and lastly, you have got the power to heal."

She then looked at him, bemused. "I never imagined you would gain that much power. Oh and I almost forgot, your eyes can now morph into flames."

Before Percy could do more than look amazed at the new powers he now had, Hera reached out with her senses as well, before saying "From me, you have gained the power to detect the strength of bonds between members of a family. Aside from that you have gained the skill to master archery. You see, when I was inducted into the Olympian Council, I vowed to protect Olympus and so, became a warrior goddess of sorts as well. I mastered archery and I seem to have passed that ability to you as well. Lastly, your bonds of loyalty and faith have also been strengthened. These will make you defend your loved ones to your dying breath and will allow you to hold onto people with amazing mental strength."

"Wow" said an awestruck Percy. "I never thought I'd be able to learn archery, milady."

"Well you can now" smirked Hera. "After learning of your ability, I want to give you a gift" she said. As she spoke, a bow materialized into her hands. It was pure white with Hera's symbol, a peacock feather emblazoned onto the bow. It looked extremely deadly with onyx spikes protruding at both ends.

Percy ran his hands along the smooth surface, marveling at the masked beauty of the bow. With a start, he saw that Hera hadn't given him a quiver.

"Lady Hera, excuse me, but you haven't given me a quiver" he said, bemused.

"All you have to do is put your fingers on the bowstring and an arrow will appear" she said.

Suddenly, Hestia came forwards and put her hand on the bow momentarily. After she took her hand away, she smirked self satisfactorily and said "Now you have but to think of it and the arrows will turn into fire arrows" she said. "Oh and when you don't need it, just think of it and the bow will transform into a ring. When you want the bow again, twist the ring clockwise and it'll appear."

Immediately, Percy thought of the bow disappearing and it did just that. A pure white ring edged with black appeared onto his finger.

Percy also noticed that the bow now had a symbol of the hearth emblazoned onto it. The symbol of power of Hestia.

After communicating silently once more, Hestia spoke. "We have one last gift for you"

A box suddenly flashed into both the goddesses' hands.

They each came forwards and gave the boxes to Percy. He opened the one from Hestia first. Inside was an ornate Hunting knife, with a wicked, serrated edge. It was glossy black in color with dark orange flame designs etched into it. It shone with a sheen that Percy knew could only be emitted by Olympian silver. The dagger was a vision of perfection, with its black leather grip. He picked it up and flipped it into the air before catching it. It was beautifully balanced, as if it was made for him, which it probably was.

Emblazoned just below the cross hilt was Hestia's symbol of power, etched into the Olympian silver.

He then opened the box from Hera. It was a dagger that matched the other in design, but, while the other one was pure black, this one was pure white, creating a stark contrast between the two. This one was edged with stormy grey and the symbol of Hera was emblazoned under the cross hilt.

Percy was speechless, looking at the gifts the goddesses had given them. He simply stood up went over to Hestia, and pulled her into a grateful hug. He pulled back after a brief contact and then hugged Hera, slightly more hesitant. The queen of the gods was not used to such contact and didn't hug him back immediately, but did so after a brief moment of hesitation.

"Thank you so much" Percy croaked, as soon as he was able to speak.

The goddesses both nodded, accepting his thanks.

"I think I'm ready" said Percy, after a brief period of silence.

Hera smiled at him before saying "You will first be sent to Lupa, the Roman wolf goddess who brought up Romulus and Remus. If she judges you worthy, you will be allowed to move on to camp Jupiter."

Percy nodded, indicating that he understood.

Hestia also spoke up. "If you ever find yourself in need of help or comfort, come to the hearth. You will always find solace there." After saying this she put a hand on his shoulder. "Farewell for now young hero. We will meet again very soon."

Hera offered him similar reassurance before patting his hand in farewell. Before she did so however, she snapped her fingers. "I changed your eye color back for a bit. Just so that you don't stand out too much" she offered as way of explanation.

Percy nodded at her, sending her a quick smile and then nodded at Hestia, sending her a fond smile too. "I'm ready" he said.

He steeled himself for what was to come as he felt himself flashed towards his destiny.

AN: THE END ! Of chapter 2 , that is. 9k words, tho …..hope ya guys found that to your liking. Anyways, I have no intention of leaving this story until it's finished guys…. I just hope ya peps stick around for the ride. I hope ya guys liked this chapter ! I tried to change the story a bit as you may have noticed… the plots a little different and so's the timeline. Once again, like, follow and review! Reviews would really help me get better as a writer as I need tips…

Oh and, I'm really busy at the moment, so I might not update regularly… I will try ma best to get updates out each weekend tho…

HOA11 OUT !


	3. Chapter 3

First of all , I'd like to thank yall for getting me above 500 views… I never imagined I'd get there so soon, if ever.. Oh , and yall should know , imma start replying to some reviews on here, so if ya peps don't wanna read those , feel free to skip to the chapter.

First of all… _**Dragonborn053:Another great chapter. Can't wait for more**_.

Thanks so much ! I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible. I'm glad ya liked it…. I recall you commented on ma first chappie as well….. hope to see more ov your reviews !

Lastly.. _**TheRealMasonMac chapter 2 . GAH! MOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR! Also, you mispelled hunting knife into hu ting knife.**_

 _ **"Hu Ting goes SKRRRAAA. PA PA KA KA KA**_

Thanks for your comment ! I couldn't really make much sense of most of it , but I'm grateful to you for pointing out my mistake….. I've already corrected it , thanks to your comment. Cya soon!

 _ **TheYoLOMan : This was sad...and a bit cliche, but it sorta has to be this way to get to the next stage if your story. Although you added Hera, which was a good addition. Great chapter.**_

Thanks for the boost of confidence ya gave me ! I'm sorry, even I felt it was a bit cliché, but that's cuz most plots for this pairing have already been explored and implemented and this is just my take on one of them. Thanks for the review, again ! Cya !

 _ **pontus first god of the sea: Loving this story! Keep up the amazing writing**_

Thanks ever so much ! Your review really made my day! I really like your name tho, xD , and in essence it's true, Pontus is the first primordial of the sea. Cheers!

 _ **Darrenn100: pretty good**_

Thanks so much ! I'm really glad that you enjoyed it! Hope ya like this chapter as well.

 **Okay, I'm done… On to the story ! Enjoy !**

 **Disclaimer: All rights to the Percy Jackson universe are reserved by Rick Riordan . I do this for fun and do not gain any monetary benefits from this.**

 _ **Chapter 3**_

He steeled himself for what was to come as he felt himself flashed towards his destiny.

Percy landed on the ground and tried to adjust his eyes to the dim twilight. As his eyes slowly grew accustomed to the dim light from the stars and the moon, he noticed that he was in the middle of a clearing inside a forest.

Trees loomed over him, standing tall and serene. In that moment, Percy thought of the majestic trees as sentinels of the forest, guarding it against any that may oppose the forest or its occupants. The ground was covered in a thin mossy layer, and he could hear the tinkling sound of travelling water, indicating that a small spring was nearby.

Before he could move to explore the surrounding area, he suddenly felt an aura of power behind him. Immediately he drew riptide and whirled to face the unknown entity. He saw that the 'entity' was in the shape of a large wolf, about the size of a medium sized car. The coat of the wolf was a reddish tan and its paws were white.

He realized that this was Lupa, the wolf–goddess that his patron goddesses had told him about. The wolf that had brought up Romulus and Remus and with them, The Roman Empire.

He sheathed riptide and put the pen into his pocket before walking forwards. Without a word he bowed to Lupa, eyes directed downward in a show of respect. He felt, rather than saw Lupa near his still form. As she drew near, she looked at him with piercing blue eyes and Percy felt as if he was being x-rayed.

Finally, the feeling subsided and Lupa spoke. "Rise, Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, or should I say, Neptune?" she questioned inquisitively.

"Either would be fine, milady" Percy replied respectfully, getting to his feet and standing ramrod straight at his full height. "However, I am curious as to why you would want to call me a son of Neptune, knowing that I am a son of Poseidon."

"You seem to have gained a part of both Poseidon and Neptune, something I have never seen before in a demigod" she said, looking at him strangely. "Your father must have visited your mother in both his aspects, causing you to obtain qualities of both Poseidon and Neptune."

"Just great" muttered Percy. "Exactly what I needed. Something else to mark me as different."

Lupa smirked at him. "You'll soon forget about anything and everything else once I get started with you" she said, smiling wickedly when she saw his face pale dramatically.

Percy, however, knew that this was something that had to be done, so, after getting over his initial emotion, he readied himself for what was to come.

"When do we start?" he questioned.

"I'll come for you at dawn" she said simply before turning and stalking off.

Percy just stood there stupidly. After she left, he suddenly realized that Lupa had not given him a place to eat or sleep. He would come to know that he would have to survive on his own and rely on himself to get needed amenities.

For now, Percy located the spring of water that he had heard before and took a drink of the sparkling, fresh and deliciously cool water before thinking about sleeping. He wasn't hungry, so he decided that he would not eat for now. He located a few bushes of soft leaves. He lay these over a carpet of bracken before laying down to test it out.

It was surprisingly comfortable and Percy was asleep within a few minutes. Before he slept however, he looked at the moon and the stars. He found his favorite constellation, 'the huntress', and looked at it with pride. The constellation had been placed in the stars by Artemis after the fight against Atlas. It had been meant to honor Zöe Nightshade, Atlas' elder daughter who had died fighting him.

Fondly, he remembered the time he had spent with Zöe. At first, she had been wary and had stayed awfully cool hearted and distant towards him but as she saw the kind of person he was, Zöe had accepted him and before dying had told him that she thought of him as the only acceptable male, and her first male friend.

His thoughts then turned towards what trials Lupa would have for him. He remembered her wicked smile, even though it had not been meant to be malicious in nature, and shivered involuntarily.

With these thoughts swirling around in his head, he fell into the realm of Morpheus.

The next morning he woke up and had only just washed his face and taken a drink from the spring when Lupa showed up, in her human form.

In this form, she had a tall, slender figure. Her hair, which was the same color as her fur, fell in waves across her back. Her startling blue eyes looked beautiful, yet dangerous. She had a pale, heart shaped face and a small button nose.

All in all, she was extremely beautiful, nothing less than Percy would expect from a goddess.

"Let's begin, shall we?" she said, smirking all the while.

From that moment on, life literally became a test for Percy as he was forced through several challenges that pushed him to the limits of his strength, both physical and mental. Athena's challenges paled in comparison to those that Lupa gave him. He could only recall a few of Athena's challenges, such as the fight with Ladon, that had been more taxing then Lupa's challenges.

He learnt survival skills along with battle skills. Skills Lupa said were necessary for a warrior to have. When he wasn't in the midst of arduous training drills, schedules, and challenges thrown at him by the wolf goddess, he was developing his own demigod powers, focusing especially on the new ones given to him by Hestia and Hera.

When he wasn't focusing on his powers, he was training heavily with the hunting knives and the bow. He had discovered that due to Hera's blessing, he was now more that capable with a bow. His skills only developing further due to his extended training.

He was now an above average marksman, surpassing the children of Apollo at camp, and was nearing a skill level equal to those of the huntresses of Artemis. He would practice daily, developing the muscles in his back and all the while working on his stance, grip and accuracy.

The knives had been easy enough for him to pick up since he had the necessary skills to be a close range melee fighter. He was fast, incredibly so, and was extremely quick on his feet, enabling him to perform speedy thrusts, lunges and leaps.

His muscled and wiry frame was also very flexible, enabling him to move with a grace that rivaled that of the huntresses of Artemis and was nearing the Olympian goddess herself.

He could now summon fire at will and shoot fireballs and streams of fire from his hands. He could make his whole body catch fire, burning everything that came into contact with him. If he put enough power into it, the fire would turn into the more dangerous and extremely volatile Greek fire. The flaming arrows that Hestia had given him the ability to summon were now able to turn into Greek fire.

He could now summon any meal he thought about and could materialize enough food to feed around twenty five people although it was extremely taxing. He had practiced his healing skill on ailing animals he would find in the forest and he was extremely pleased at the usefulness of his newfound skill. He had provided relief to many forest creatures in his three month tenure in the forest.

He had not had a chance to test out his 'hope' abilities yet, but he had been mentally preparing himself to use them and start training them regularly.

The ability of detecting familial bonds, given to him by Hera, he had not had a chance to test. The same was the case with the renewed strength of his bonds of loyalty and love towards his family, friends and loved ones.

Aside from all of this, Percy had, upon Lupa's urging begun to learn some of the rarely used and obscure martial arts which she said would help hone his powers. When he asked Lupa for the reason, she supplied that martial arts skills would help focus his powers and become more in tune with them.

Henceforth, Lupa would train him in some martial arts styles after the days tribulations had come to an end. The new training regime developed Percy's power even more, making him a force to be reckoned with. He would not use the martial arts in real life situations for the most part, but his powers would be stronger. The martial arts training was supplemented by light meditation, increasing his focus and mental strength to untold levels.

Finally, the day came for Percy to be sent to the Roman camp. Lupa, however had devised one last challenge for him. The challenge was not one that usual Roman recruits were given. Lupa had told him that due to his skill level and strength, she had one final task for him.

The early morning light lit up the serene forest, and threw the beauty and majesty into sharp relief. The sky was clear with just enough clouds to provide occasional cover from the sun.

Percy Jackson stretched in his makeshift bed that he had been sleeping on for three months. He had become accustomed to getting up with the sun and such was the case today. He performed his morning rituals, washing his face and taking a drink of water from the same spring he had found all those weeks back and then lounged around, waiting for Lupa to arrive.

And arrive she did, just as the first rays rose above the tree level. She had her twin shortswords in her hands and looked like she meant business.

"Lady Lupa" said Percy, as way of greeting, standing to attention.

She acknowledged him with a stiff nod of her head before motioning for him to stand at ease.

Another part of his tutoring with Lupa had involved lessons in Roman etiquette and the strict discipline that one required to be inducted into the Legion.

"Today is your final test, and I can say with surety and no small amount of joy, that I am proud of you , Perseus. You have accomplished something no other demigod has managed" She said smiling softly. Percy could tell she was smiling even though to the normal person all it would look like would be a slight baring of the teeth.

"Even though you may not succeed in your final challenge, you will be passed ahead, because this is purely a test of how far you've come while under my tutelage" she explained. "We will fight one on one in single combat until either of us is unable to continue due to a potentially fatal wound, that is, on a sensitive spot like the chest or neck, thus compelling us to surrender."

Percy nodded at her, indicating that he had understood. While in the forest, he had learned to control his emotions and could do so in most cases. Lupa had told him that showing emotion in front of a potential enemy would be dangerous, hence he had to mask his emotions at all times in mixed company.

"When do we begin?" he asked, a stolid mask on his face as he took out riptide.

"Right now" Lupa smirked, just before she lunged, twin shorts words coming up in a vicious double strike.

Percy whipped his head backwards, avoiding the strike at his face and deflected the other with the flat of his sword.

Lupa had taught him that sometimes, deflecting a blow was better, because it had the potential to put his adversary off balance and insured that he did not waste too much of his energy meaningless blocking blows. This was especially useful against enemies who used crushing blows that would, more often than not, cause the weapon to go flying out of their opponents' hands.

He gracefully whirled around and sent a strike at her legs, one she jumped over and swung at Percy simultaneously. He sidestepped the blow and started a maneuver consisting of quick lunges and thrusts (the Roman fighting style in usual battles) which would send his opponent on the defensive.

Lupa however, had been around for millennia and skillfully avoided all of his strikes, parrying some of his blows and dodging the others.

When Percy stepped back to momentarily adjust his stance, Lupa saw her chance and took it, going on the offensive immediately. She whirled in circles, her two swords creating after images, such was the speed of her strikes. The 360° maneuver (Percy's name for the spinning sword movement) protected her on all sides, blocking and deflecting enemy blades, even as she herself became a literal whirlwind of destruction.

Percy was forced to give up ground rapidly and was made to dodge frantically to avoid her incessant strikes. One of the swords got through his defense and lightly nicked his arm, drawing first blood. The cut didn't hurt, but nonetheless, it was first blood.

Lupa stopped to catch her breath -the 360° move required a person's utmost concentration and was a maneuver that only the most skilled swordfighters could pull off. Even so, it was particularly draining, and even Lupa was forced to halt her attack in order to regain strength, giving Percy a momentary chance to fight back.

He lunged, this time changing his style to match the fighting style of the Greeks. Slashes and sharp cuts, all aimed at Lupa's head, chest and midsection.

Now Lupa was forced on the defensive, as she deflected Percy's savage, accurate blows. One of Percy's blows got through her guard and pierced her stomach, drawing a long, shallow wound, causing golden ichor to splatter to the ground.

Lupa's eyes widened in surprise. She had not expected the demigod to be able to draw blood, but she quickly composed herself, reasoning that Percy was the most powerful demigod to have ever come across her and a child of one of the big three along with being the champion of two Olympian goddesses.

Another strike of Percy's drew another light gash, this time on her left forearm, causing ichor to flow out of the wound. She cursed herself for losing her focus during a serious, difficult fight such as this one.

Percy struck again, aiming for the thigh but she caught the blade of his sword on the cross hilt on one of her swords and as he lost his balance, she saw her chance and took it, intent on finishing the fight. She drew a long gash on his other arm and in the same maneuver, spun, and bashed the hilt of her weapon into his knee, drawing a short grunt of pain from him.

He swung his sword in an accurate blow at the wolf-goddesses head forcing her to duck before bringing his knee up and scraping her face as she straightened again, bruising her forehead in the process.

She decide to try and finish the fight as quickly as possible. Already, the fight had dragged on longer than it should have. Her swords began to leave afterimages again as she brutally swiped at Percy's vital parts, trying to get him to give up.

Percy was beginning to lose the fight and he knew it, yet, he continued fighting to the best of his considerable skill, and waited for Lupa to make a mistake.

She narrowed her eyes, noticing the sudden lull in his attacks, knowing immediately that he was waiting for her to slip up, give him a chance to go on the offensive again. No such thing happened however, as Lupa attacked with renewed vigor.

Finally, after a hasty dodge from a particularly cunning and brutal overhead slash from Lupa, Percy lost his footing and stumbled.

The momentary distraction was all Lupa needed to get inside Percy's guard and land a ferocious, well aimed strike at his midsection, opening a long gash. She then proceeded to land a bunch of crippling blows that he somehow deflected before managing to land a blow to his sword that sent it out of his hand and clanging to the ground a few yards away.

Knowing that he would be unable to continue without his daggers, she hastened to put one of her swords at his neck and the other she pointed toward his heart.

"Do you yield?" she asked, smirking victoriously.

"Yes milady. I yield" said the affronted demigod. He then reminded himself that he had gone up against a GODDESS and a darn good fighter at that. Considering the circumstances, he had done incredibly well, especially since he hadn't used any of his powers.

"Well done, Perseus" said a proud Lupa. "You have done extremely well, considering the circumstances you were faced with" she said as if she was vocalizing what was on his mind.

He acknowledged her praise with a grateful nod of his head.

"Well done indeed" said a familiar voice.

Percy whirled around at the familiar soft, melodious voice and identified Hestia as she stepped out of the shadow of a nearby tree from which she had been watching the whole spectacle.

"Milady Hestia" said Percy reverently, bowing to her.

"Perseus, you do not need to bow to me" said the goddess of the hearth.

"Milady, I bow to those who I respect and you are one of the few who I respect to my utmost, and so, I will continue to bow to you" he said, his tone respectful.

She inwardly sighed at the demigod's headstrong, stubborn nature. However, she was impressed by he fact that Percy was willing and able to speak his mind in her presence, indicating that he was comfortable enough to do so.

"I see it would be useless to try and change your mind" she said with a soft smile.

Percy just smiled back at her, not needing to say anything.

A silence descended on the trio as Hestia fell into a reverie. She spoke as she snapped put of it. "Perseus, me and Hera have been tracking your progress and I am pleased to say that I, that is to say we, are more than satisfied and extremely proud at your advancement."

Percy positively glowed at her praise, a light blush forming on his cheeks. He bowed slightly, acknowledging her praise.

"I came here, however, to wish you luck in the coming months. Hera could not come personally, due to pressing duties on Olympus that she has to attend to, but she asked me to express how proud she is of you, and how she is sure she made the right choice in making you her champion. The same can be said for me."

"Thank you, milady. I'll probably never be able to voice just how much that means to me. I will not let you, or lady Hera down." He spoke with utter conviction.

"Lady Hera or myself will try our best to come to you, if you are in need of comforting words and helpful advice. However, try not to be overly public when calling us. It would not bode well if people knew about you being our champion even before the rest of the gods."

"Your will, ma'am" he replied respectfully.

She nodded, then came forward and gave him a short one armed hug. Like on Montauk beach, he felt hope rise to the brim inside him and for a moment, he felt as if he could accomplish anything. He returned her hug with fervor before she stepped back.

She smiled and raised a hand in farewell before flashing away, leaving a slight aura of comfort, an aura that one would immediately associate with home.

After she left Lupa locked her eyes onto Percy's. "Perseus Jackson, you have honored me by being my pupil and I can easily say that you are my best and most favored pupil to date. If ever you are in need of help, my wolf pack will come."

Percy bowed low to her, choking on unsaid words. The pain in his heart after losing Annabeth, his stepfather and his mother in quick succession was slowly healing and the shattered bits of his heart were coming back together, piece by piece.

"Farewell, Percy" she smiled, and Percy noticed that for the first time, she had called him by his preferred name. "Until we meet again, may your path be filled with success and happiness" she said with heartfelt emotion.

Like many before her, Percy had had a great impact on the warrior goddess. His bravery, intelligence, selflessness, companionship, easygoing yet disciplined nature when needed, and his confidence in himself and others had deeply moved Lupa.

Percy was at a loss for words as he bowed to the goddess one final time before she flashed him away.

He had been told that the main entrance to the Roman camp was through the Caldecott Tunnel, Oakland Hills, near San Francisco. This was where he appeared now, instantly on the alert for foes. Seeing no one, Percy proceeded to the tunnel which was guarded by two humans. Percy guessed that they were the Roman sentries posted at the entrance.

The first was a female, about 5'3" in height. She had cinnamon brown hair that flowed down a couple inches past her shoulders. Her eyes were golden, and Percy guessed that she was a daughter of Pluto. She had a long cavalry sword (spatha) in her scabbard, something that confused Percy, since the cavalry sword was, as its name suggested, meant for members of the cavalry. Percy shrugged off his curiosity, turning his attention towards the other person.

The other figure was a male and had a huge, hulking and burly frame. He looked to be about 6'2". He had a bow and arrow slung over his shoulders, an ordinary enough weapon. He seemed to ooze nervousness and looked slightly uncomfortable. Percy guessed that he had a crush on the girl standing sentry with him. To Percy, he looked like a son of Mars, due to his huge frame and stance.

Both of the sentries carried spears (pilums) about 7ft long over their backs. Upon seeing him, the girl took out her spatha and the boy loosely nocked an arrow to his bow. They relaxed when he got closer and they saw that he was a demigod.

The girl still held her spatha in her hand, but now it was facing downwards and was held loosely.

"Halt" she ordered in a commanding tone of voice.

Percy did as he was asked and stopped, his hands out in front of him, slightly raised.

"What is your name?" she asked of him.

"I am Perseus Jackson, son of Neptune" he replied, eliciting a suppressed gasp of surprise from both the demigods. After all, it was not every day that a child of the big three came to camp.

"I am Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto, of the fifth cohort" she said by way of introduction. She rolled up her sleeve to show Percy her SPQR (senatus populusque romanus) tattoo, under which was one bar, indicating one year of service in the Legion. The hieroglyphic figurine of Pluto was burned into her arm. She held out her hand and Percy shook it firmly.

The boy stepped forward next. "Frank Zhang, son of Mars" he said, proving Percy's guess to be correct. He was wearing a probatio tablet which Percy knew meant that he had yet to prove himself to the Legion. "I'm in the fifth cohort, like Hazel."

Percy was glad that Lupa had taught him the ways of the Romans. That was why he had been able to identify the tattoos on Hazel's arm, and the probatio tablet worn by Frank.

"We shall take you to the current Praetor, Reyna" said Hazel. They waited until the next watchmen came on duty and 15 minutes later they were heading towards the via Praetoria where they would find Reyna.

As they walked, Hazel and Frank told him the backgrounds of all the structures and buildings he saw.

First, they came across a mostly empty field except in the middle where, surrounded by a moat, a castle stood. Percy look questioningly at Hazel and she answered immediately.

"This is where the campers have their war games, marching drills, and the occasional monster hunting. Every war game, the legionnaires build a new fort so that they never have the same challenge twice. The field has many trenches and hidden tunnels, useful when planting hidden traps and such" she explained. "War games consist of the two best cohorts, the first and the second, teamed up against the third, fourth and fifth. One of the teams defends the flag in the fort while the other attacks the fort and tries to take the enemy flag. Once the flag is captured, the game is declared over. You'll see soon enough. We're having a battle tomorrow, and you can join in. If you get inducted, that is" she told him.

As she talked, they came upon a small city. Roman architecture was noticeable everywhere and narrow winding streets led to homes, schools, colleges, workplaces and whatnot. Before Percy could ask, Hazel began explaining.

"Legionnaires have the choice of retiring from the Legion after 10 years of survive. This is New Rome where retired Roman legionnaires can live, go to college, get married, and start families. There are many different shops there and a bustling nightlife. The Forum, Coliseum, Senate House, and Circus Maximus are located in New Rome. At the south end of New Rome lies the lake, which is connected to the Little Tiber.

Percy pointed out a nearby hill on which small temples could be seen, dotted across the summit. "What's that?" he questioned.

This time, surprisingly, it was Frank who answered.

"That is Temple Hill. It's where all the temples to the gods are located. The most important temples are The Temple of Bellona, Pluto's Shrine, Temple of Mars Ultor, and Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. There are also shrines for Neptune and Janus. The Romans being warriors above all, they favored the war gods and goddesses, however, temples for all the Roman deities are present" Frank explained .

Next Percy's gaze was drawn to a far off garden on a hilltop overlooking new Rome.

Hazel spoke, noticing where Percy's eyes were focused.

"The Garden of Bacchus. It may or may not be dedicated to Bacchus, no one knows for sure" she explained simply.

As they walked up the streets of new Rome, Percy was told the names of the major streets like the via Praetoria. Finally they reached a massive building.

The building itself was a two-story wedge of white marble with a columned portico like an old-fashioned bank with Roman guards standing out in front of it. Over the doorway, hung a big purple banner with the gold letters SPQR embroidered inside a laurel wreath.

"This is the Principia, that is, the headquarters of the Praetors. The Praetors meet at the principia to discuss important matters that effect the 12th legion." Hazel had barely spoken before a female demigod came out of the doors of the Principia.

To Percy, she looked around sixteen years old, with piercing black eyes and glossy black hair worn in a single braid. She had a regal and beautiful face, probably of Hispanic descent. Percy's trained eye noticed in her the 'poise of a sword fighter' as if she was ready to spring in action at any moment.

Like all the proven demigods in Camp Jupiter, she had SPQR branded on her forearm with four bar lines and a crossed sword and torch, the symbol of her parent. Percy recalled from Lupa's tutelage that the symbol on her arm was the symbol used by Bellona, the Roman goddess of warfare. She wore a regal purple cape decorated with shimmering golden clasps over her own Imperial gold armor.

She looked at Percy closely and a flash of recognition passed through her eyes. She struggled to put a name to him …. James…. Johnson ….. Jackson ! That was it. He was something Jackson or other who had come to Circe's island with some other girl and had managed to somehow release the pirates Circe had imprisoned, who then proceeded to wreck havoc upon the resort and spa.

She and her sister Hylla had learnt to fight for survival quickly, being daughters of a war goddess. At first, they were mad that a demigod had single handedly ruined their safe home, but in hindsight, the sisters realized that he had done them a good turn, although unknowingly, freeing them from Circe's manipulations and control.

"You're Jackson" she said aloud, noticing his eyes widen, as well as those of Frank and Hazel, who were wondering how their Praetor knew this demigod.

"I'm Perseus Jackson, yes" he affirmed, still trying to come to grips with the fact that this girl knew him.

He looked at her more closely and immediately felt that this person was familiar. He looked at her closely and in a flash it all became clear to him.

"You were on Circe's island!" he exclaimed.

Reyna nodded coolly. "I was. Along with my sister Hylla."

"Uh yeah, about the island. I'm really sorry we released those pirates who wrecked your home" he said sheepishly, taking on a more subdued tone.

"All's in the past" Reyna said dismissively. "Anyways, we both came to the conclusion that you did us a good turn rather than a bad one. Due to the pirates, me and my sister learned valuable fighting skills along with getting freedom from Circe's manipulations, so, I guess that in a strange way, I should thank you."

"No thanks necessary" said Percy, ever the easygoing one. "As you said, it's all in the past."

"So, why have you come here?" she questioned, a glint of curiosity in her eyes.

"I wish to join the Legion" he said simply.

"Any recommendation letters?"

"None" he answered.

"Well, in that case, you'll fight one of the centurions from each cohort and will be allowed to choose a cohort depending on if you defeat any centurion from that cohort. For example, if you defeat all five centurions, you may join either of the five cohorts" she explained patiently. "If you do not win against any centurion as is most likely, you will be given a probatio tablet and will be placed in the fifth cohort" she completed.

Percy digested the information, storing it in his mind. "Thank you, Praetor" he said formally.

"Ah, forgive me" she said, the hard look in her eyes softening for a second. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona."

"Rather a large mouthful" Percy muttered inconspicuously causing Frank to hurriedly conceal a snigger and Hazel to smile mirthfully. Reyna had however, heard him and gave him a glare as hard as steel. To his credit he didn't flinch, however, he did make a mental note to not call Reyna by her full name.

"Your induction will begin in three hours" she informed. "You have some time to kill, and I don't have anything to do, so why don't we head somewhere for a talk?" she questioned. "There's a few things I'm curious about."

Hazel and Frank looked on, mouths agape. Never before had Reyna asked a new demigod to chat with her barely five minutes after meeting said demigod.

"Sure, sounds fine" said Percy.

Reyna nodded, then turned to Frank and Hazel. "Legionnaires, back to your duties" she ordered. Both nodded and with final waves to Percy both turned and headed off down the via principia.

Reyna began walking in the opposite direction, towards the hill containing the garden on the summit. The garden of Bacchus, he recalled, having been informed of the place by Hazel.

Reyna didn't speak, nor did she look backwards as she climbed the hill at a brisk pace. They reached the garden and Percy stood still for a moment taking in the wonderfully kept garden. The bushes were neatly trimmed and the flowerbeds were full of blossoms of different colors and kinds, adding an exotic beauty to the garden.

The view over the top of the fence marking the edges of the garden however, was even more awe-inspiring. He could see the plain area where the field of Mars was and could clearly see the tower being built for the war games. He looked to the other side and saw new Rome in all its glory. Cobbled streets leading up to picturesque buildings. The principia was the most magnificent of all, shining in the early afternoon sunlight.

Only when she entered the garden did Reyna turn towards Percy. She let him take it all in and for a few moments stood in silence. Finally, after she had waited long enough she spoke. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes" Percy spoke softly, still looking at new Rome. As if coming out a trance, he shook his head slightly and turned towards her, focusing on her.

As she opened her mouth to speak, Percy cut across her.

"You didn't bring me up here just to simply exchange niceties, I know" he said. "You have questions and you hope that I have the answers, am I right?" he questioned having figured that out himself.

She nodded shortly, secretly amazed at how he had managed to read her like an open book in the space of a few minutes.

"Yes" she admitted.

"Well, ask away. I will answer your questions to the utmost of my ability as you are the praetor of Rome and I feel that I can trust you. However, you must swear to not disclose to anyone the information I give you."

"I swear on the Styx" she said, causing thunder to boom in the background, sealing her oath.

"Ask away, then" Percy said airily, leaning on the fence.

"Do you know Jason Grace? If so, do you know about his whereabouts and current status?" she questioned, desperately hoping to receive answers.

"Well, let me begin from the start. As you may know, Roman gods of old were developed after the Greek gods, mostly similar but with a few different, more serious, refined attributes. The gods, although originally Greek, can take on the form of their Roman aspect at will."

"Thus, sometimes they visit mortals in their Roman aspect and sometimes in their Greek ones. Therefore, their children are sometimes born to Roman gods and sometimes to Greek, making Greek and Roman demigods."

"You probably did not know this before, but there is another camp, known as 'Camp Half Blood' on Long Island Sound. Inside, in relative safety, reside the Greek demigods that survive. It is much like your Roman camp in the way that the demigod's are constantly training, fighting monsters and ready to defend Olympus at any time" he explained.

Reyna was drinking in his every word, eyes slightly widened as the information continued to register in her brain.

That, however, is where the similarities stop. The Greek camp does not have a small reincarnation for lack of a better word of say, Athens, by which I mean to say that older Greek demigods have no town or city, whatever you may call it in which they can live the remainder of their lives in relative safety and start families."

They are not as disciplined as the Romans, even though they are evenly matched in combat. The fighting styles of the Greeks and the Romans differ greatly. They do not have a system of administration as you do either. Demigods are split into cabins belonging to their godly parents, not by skill level" he said, finishing his short explanation.

"I understand" said Reyna thoughtfully. "Please continue."

"Recently, a prophecy was issued, stating that soon The Earth mother, that is to say, the primordial goddess Gaea will rise from her slumber. Her sons, the gigantes will rise, and muster her armies after which the earth mother herself will rise. In the prophecy, it was said that both Greeks and Romans would have to unite in order to win the war" said Percy, simplifying everything so that Reyna could keep up easily.

"The gods decided that for this to take place the leaders of both camps would be switched, having their memories erased in the process".

"Hold up" said Reyna. "How come you seem to remember everything, then?" she asked, intrigued.

Percy hesitated before answering. "The goddesses Hera and Hestia along with some other gods who favor me overruled the rest of the Olympian Council, allowing me to retain my memories. I was brought to Lupa and after she deemed me worthy, she sent me to your camp" Percy finished his account.

Reyna stood stock still, deep in thought. "That means that Jason will come back soon enough, hopefully."

"Yep" Percy affirmed.

They stood in silence for an indefinite amount of time before Reyna suddenly seemed to snap out of her reverie, and looked around her. She looked at the watch on her arm and gasped. It was 3:20 already. The sun had reached the zenith of its ascent, and was continuing it's downwards arc. They had been talking for almost 2 hours.

"It's nearly time for your induction trial" she said to Percy.

He nodded, readying himself internally. He was worried about the trial as much as he was about the Legion not accepting him as one of their own.

However, he masked his emotions behind a calm, confident façade. "Let's go down to the arena, shall we?"

"Our fighting arena has been made to look like the coliseum of old, though it was built on a much smaller scale" she supplied, beginning to lead him out of the garden.

"So, what is it mostly used for?" questioned Percy, keeping pace with her as she led him down the small hill and over the field of Mars.

"Well it's mostly used for induction trials, such as your own. As I said, a demigod who does not have a reference letter has to prove himself worthy of the Legion. I have yet to see your fighting skill, since you did not engage anyone in open combat on the island when you escaped" said Reyna. "Other than that, we use it for award ceremonies and the like" she said, finishing her explanation.

Percy nodded that he understood as they continued going forward. Percy could now see the arena. To him, it looked just like the real coliseum. Annabeth would've found countless things wrong with it and would've wanted to correct them, he thought wistfully.

He then felt a slight twinge of pain in his heart as he remembered how Annabeth had dumped him. He felt another pang in his heart as he thought of his other friends. He wondered if they were doing fine and if they were worried about him at all.

He felt a hand grasp his shoulder and as his clouded eyes cleared , he saw Reyna looking at him questioning. He surmised that Reyna has said something and when he hadn't replied, she had grasped his shoulder to get his attention.

"I'm sorry, just got lost in thought there" he apologized. "What were you saying?"

"We're here" she gestured to the arena which was now just 50 or so yards in front of them.

"You go through that side entrance there" she said, pointing at a doorway in the carved out rock. "Good luck."

Percy nodded at her and started walking towards the doorway she pointed out as she herself made her way through the main entrance, a towering huge gap in the wall.

Percy went through the arched doorway and went into a short tunnel. After about 15 yards he came out into sunlight. He blinked as he beheld the arena. Hewn rock allowed people to sit on different levels of height. The circular steps of hewn rock ran the whole circumference of the arena.

In the middle, a large, circular area of ground had been perfectly leveled. Lush green grass covered the surface of the arena. The seats were already occupied by the entirety of the population of new Rome. A rectangular podium had been built at one end of the arena at ground level and on it were two ceremonial seats.

They were more like thrones, in fact, with the marvelous workmanship done on them. Both were golden and had a large purple amethyst embedded in the area just above where a person's head would be. On top of this was the Roman motto, 'Senatus Populusque Romanus.'

Already seated in the left hand chair was Reyna, looking elegant and imposing at the same time. Her purple cloak was on her shoulder and she had an imperial gold Gladius on her belt with an imperial gold dagger on the other side. An imperial gold spear was balanced on the side of her chair, intricate designs etched into the wood.

As Percy came out of the shadow of the doorway, the excitement of the crowd rose, all of them looking forward to seeing this new demigod being thrashed by their Legion's finest. As the volume of the crowd rose in pitch, Reyna stood up and waved her hand.

Immediately, the crowd quieted. There was suddenly a suspenseful pin drop silence in the arena.

"Today, a new demigod has arrived, hoping to join the Legion" said Reyna, her raised voice carrying easily. "I present Perseus Jackson, son of Neptune."

The crowd started murmuring curiously. A child of the big three was a big deal, even if he was a new demigod. Even at this distance, Percy could see glares being thrown at him from some people. However, Lupa had told Percy that the Romans were not big fans of sea travel and rarely ventured out into the sea.

Neptune was not their favorite god, to put it lightly. Despite the murmuring and the whispering, along with suspicious stares in his direction, Percy stood stalwart. His head was held high as he readied himself for the duels to come.

"Let the trials begin!" yelled Reyna, causing the crowd to erupt in much applause and cheers. "The rules have been explained to the challenger. Let him face his first opponent!"

A figure stepped put from the area of the stands where the fifth cohort was sitting.

"The first to fight Perseus will be Gwendolyn Stone, senior most centurion of the fifth cohort!" announced Reyna.

As she drew nearer, Percy analyzed his opponent carefully. Gwendolyn had a tall, willowy figure and was about 5' 7" tall. She was carrying a pilum (spear) in her right hand and a scutum (Roman style rectangular shield) in the other. She had an imperial gold short sword at her waist.

She stopped 10 feet in front of Percy and without a word altered her stance. She lowered her center of gravity, a wise move, as it would provide more stability and would allow her to move faster.

Percy uncapped riptide, the celestial bronze glinting in the sun as it grew to its full length. The Romans in the crowd were too far off to notice anything amiss but Gwendolyn raised an eyebrow curiously as she eyed the blade, immediately knowing that it was not imperial gold.

Percy did not react to her surprise, instead, he altered his own stance to match hers. He did not take out either of his daggers, leaving them sheathed at his waist.

He held his sword tightly, pointing slightly towards the ground, hilt at chest level.

When she saw that they were ready, Reyna from her seated position, yelled "Begin!" giving them the go-ahead.

Gwendolyn, by not charging blindly showed her experience as a centurion of the Legion. Instead, she experimentally took a swipe at him with her spear.

Percy almost lazily batted the incoming pilum away with the flat of his blade, deflecting it to the ground. He began circling his opponent as she did the same, looking for a chance to strike.

This time it was Percy who struck first, slashing at Gwendolyn's leg and bringing the sword upwards in the same movement, aimed at her abdomen. She hastily stepped out of the way of the first blow and barely managed to get her shield up to block the second.

She jabbed outwards with her spear, aiming at his shoulder, but Percy stepped out of its way with a grace that would've rivaled that of the huntresses of Artemis.

A surprised murmur rose up in the crowd. It had not been thought that this would go on long, yet this new, supposedly inexperienced demigod was matching a centurion of the Legion blow for blow. The fifth cohort was their weakest, but a centurion was a centurion nonetheless, and did not gain the rank for no reason.

Percy decided to take it easy, not wanting to reveal the farthest extent of his ferocious sword fighting skills.

He let Gwen attack with her spear before deflecting it skillfully. This time however, he did not allow her to bring it back up, as he moved quickly, the flat of his blade striking the spear near where Gwen was gripping it.

The sudden vibration, made even more powerful by Percy's strong blow, made Gwendolyn's grip loosen momentarily. Percy took full advantage of this, kicking the spear powerfully and sending it spinning out of his adversary's hand.

The centurion, however did not just roll over and let him win. She brought her shield down on his arm as he spun backwards, grazing his unarmored arm, causing a light bruise to form immediately. Without missing a beat, she took out her sword and regarded Percy warily, waiting for his next move.

From her seat, Reyna watched with a seasoned warrior's eyes, noting Percy's swift movements. Immediately she knew he was holding back but she made no move to interrupt the fight. There would be time enough for questions later.

Percy lunged at Gwendolyn, catching her off guard with the swift movement and slashed the sword at her arm. Gwendolyn, preferring mobility over protection, was wearing no armor. Percy's strike drew a small gash on the arm that was gripping the scutum. First blood had been achieved.

Dodging Gwendolyn's next couple of strikes, Percy pulled off a maneuver that he had come up with during training with Lupa. Being a child of both Rome and Greece, he knew both Greek and Roman fighting styles.

He quickly lunged forwards -the Roman way- before executing an upwards slash -the Greek style- thrusting again after finishing the follow through for the slash. Gwen, never having faced this kind of style frantically tried to dodge instead of blocking.

She was able to dodge the first lunging strike well enough, but the upwards slash drew a cut over her knee. She was forced to put her shield up to avoid the final thrust. Percy kicked the shield hard, the sudden, violent vibrations sending a painful shock up her shield arm, instantly causing her fingers to go numb.

She shook her head angrily and dropped the shield, knowing that it would now deter her movement, what with her not being to feel her arm and all.

She now only had her sword left. She poised, ready for any other surprises that would doubtless be flung her way. This time however, Percy opted for a series of quick strikes, focusing on pushing her back. The centurion however, did not give ground, accurately blocking his advances with her sword, and when this was not possible, by dodging.

Percy, growing weary feigned a swing at her head causing her to put her sword up. He then charged towards her and at the last moment, he fell to the ground and executed a perfect slide, going between her legs and coming up on the other side.

Immediately he got up and swept her off her feet with a quick backwards kick.

"Oh crap" thought Gwen as she fell to the ground.

She felt the cold bronze on her neck, and a second later, Percy spoke. "Do you yield?"

Her sword had flown out of her hand when she fell, making further resistance futile.

"I yield" she said wearily.

The crowd booed as they saw that their centurion had lost. A lot of them were biased against the last two cohorts, especially the fifth. It further cemented their belief, as the supposedly best member of the aforementioned cohort was defeated before their eyes, by a new demigod. One that did not even have a probatio tablet yet.

Gwen, still on the ground, wore an expression of humiliation and self loathing. She was disappointed in herself for losing. Her losing meant that the other cohorts would now look down upon the fifth even more.

Suddenly she saw something that made her eyes widen in surprise. Percy was holding put his hand to her. She hesitantly took it and he pulled her to her feet, to continued jeers from the crowd.

"That was a great fight. Perseus Jackson, call me Percy" he said, introducing himself personally, even though Gwendolyn had been informed of his name through Reyna's announcement before their fight.

"Gwendolyn Stone, call me Gwen" she replied. She was surprised by his chivalry and lack of boasting at his victory. Instead, she saw with a hint of awe, that he had an expression of disgust on his face, and it was pointed towards the Roman legionnaires who were sitting in the stands.

"How dare they do that to one of their own?" he hissed.

"Calm down, Perseus" she reassured him. "I can bear it."

Percy flashed a small smile at her, holding his emotions in check for the moment.

"I noticed you looked interested in my sword" said the son of Poseidon. "Why don't we talk later, when there's time."

Before Gwen could do more than nod, Reyna spoke. Reyna was the sole person in the arena who had schooled her emotions. She, along with the fifth cohort and some members of the fourth were the only ones who weren't jeering at Gwen or glaring at her with loathing.

"The challenger has won!" announced the praetor. "The next fighter is Samantha Barnes, senior centurion of the 4th cohort."

Samantha had curly brown hair that was tied in a ponytail. She was a couple inches shorter than Gwen, but had the same willowy figure. She carried naught but a sword and a dagger. She, unlike Gwen, was wearing armor. Not full, heavy armor, but it was present in vital spots, such as on the chest, arms, below the elbows, and on her thighs.

Like Gwen, Samantha came forward until she was 10 ft. away from Percy. Meanwhile three other Romans had come out. Each of them had come from one of the sections containing the three remaining cohorts. Aside from them, a weedy looking guy with short cropped blonde hair had also climbed down from the stands.

He did not come as close to the fighters as the other three, who stood a scant 25 feet from Samantha and Percy, but he did enter the fighting arena, standing at a side.

Reyna didn't look surprised. She just stood from her seat and said "Begin" before resuming her seat again.

Samantha, unlike Gwen, did not wait around long before she swung at Percy. That is not to say that she was overly reckless or inexperienced, her fighting style was merely more impulsive and confident than Gwen's.

She jabbed her sword at Percy and at the same time brought the dagger downwards in a vicious arc. Percy spun way from the jab and then bent himself at an extremely unnatural angle, staying on his feet and bending his body backward as far as it went.

Miraculously, he managed to avoid both blades. Not letting up, Samantha followed up by letting the momentum from her swing carry her in a circle once before swing both blades together with all the momentum behind them.

Percy knew that this particular move was hard to overcome, even for partially experienced adversaries. Percy however, was not 'partially experienced'. With spectacular grace, he jumped backwards, flipping in the air before landing back on his feet.

The crowd gasped as he pulled off the spectacular maneuver. This continued for a while. Samantha would keep trying to hit with vicious strikes and brutal slashes but Percy just continued to dodge her blades.

He avoided her blades patiently, waiting for his chance to strike. He suddenly saw an opening as she lunged too much, over shooting just a little and going slightly off balance. The tiny window was all Perseus needed as he swung his sword in a lightning fast move, scoring a cut on her armpit.

Samantha attacked with renewed vigor. Percy was still not even using 50% of his true skill, and was not using his demigod abilities either, since they were forbidden in this type of event. He was doing so because he wanted to keep his cover intact and appear as a stronger than ordinary fighter, not a hardened war veteran, who had been trained at length by major goddesses as well as by the children of titans (chiron).

After trying to hit him with her slashes for a while, she performed a clever move, where she lunged forward with both blades pointed outwards. Percy knew what she was doing and how to overcome it, but out of curiosity, he let her proceed, wanting to know what she'd do.

He jumped over the blades, since both had been pointed at his thighs. Because of two blades in either directions, he could not launch himself sideways as that led to the risk of him being cut by one of the blades and the strike had been too low for him to duck, thus forcing him to jump.

As he jumped, she turned both her weapons sideways, coming out of her thrust and while Percy managed to dodge the sword by twirling in midair, she managed to hit the inside of his thigh with her dagger, forming a thin clean cut. Clever.

As Percy reached the ground again he rolled backwards, out of her range.

Without missing a beat, he jumped back to his feet and swept his sword in a downwards arc at her feet. She was not fast enough to dodge his swift swing, but the sword hit her armored thigh , protecting her from a serious wound.

Percy gripped the sword, hilt near his face and blade pointed straight, at her head. As she came forwards, Percy stabbed with his sword -a move she avoided by a hair's breadth- and then lunged in inside her guard.

She swiped with her dagger, which was the only blade she could use with almost no distance between them and it almost nicked his arms as he spun away. Quick as lightning, he turned his sword and struck her on the temple with the hilt.

He took care to hit her with just enough force to stun her. She recovered quickly enough, but Percy needed naught but a second to knock both her blades put of her hands and level his sword at her throat.

She held up her hands, a defeated look in her eyes, and before Percy could ask, she spoke. "I yield."

Again, boos filled the crowd, emanating from the members of the first, second and third cohorts.

Percy again turned a vicious glare upon the booing legionnaires. Schooling his emotions yet again, he turned back towards Samantha and said "Great fight! You almost got me several times there."

A slight smile formed on her face. "Thanks. You're a really good swordsman!"

Before Percy could reply however, one of the three legionnaires who had climbed down from the stands into the arena came forwards, a mocking sneer on his face.

"The fourth and fifth cohorts showing their inaptitude yet again" he drawled loudly, eliciting yells of approval from the first three cohorts and glares from the last two.

Reyna looked disgusted but did not interfere for the time being. Meanwhile, the blonde guy who had stopped a short distance away from the fighters had a satisfied smirk on his face. Something that did not go unnoticed by Percy and Reyna as well.

Percy looked at the speaker. He was brawny and tall, about 5' 9", Percy thought. He had close cropped dark brown hair and his eyes were dark, although they would shine in the light with a kaleidoscope effect, shimmering a different color.

Percy deduced that he was a son of Venus, one of the odd ones who took an interest in fighting.

"Who are you?" Percy asked scathingly.

The boy looked outraged at Percy's lack of respect while talking to him. "How dare you talk to me like that? I am Michael Kahalle, the senior centurion of the first cohort, the best fighter in the Legion" he finished with a slight, mocking flourish. "To my right is Hank, the centurion of the third cohort and with him is Larry, centurion of the second."

Percy looked at each in turn, sizing them up.

Hank was rather short, about 5' 4", but had a muscular body. His skin was dark, as well as his hair. His eyes, however, were a light cinnamon brown. They were set very close together, giving him a perpetual squint. Percy made no guesses as to his godly parent. Maybe he was a legacy, he mused.

Larry, on the other hand had a thin figure, that was rather wiry all the same. He had quick, calculating grey eyes, that reminded Percy painfully of Annabeth's eyes. A son of Minerva, he deduced. Larry had high cheekbones and was about 5' 7" tall.

Percy looked back towards Michael. Michael stood with his chest puffed out ever so slightly, with the thought that Percy -knowing who he and his companions were- would grovel at his feet and plead for mercy, trying to get on his good side.

Percy however, looked unimpressed. He narrowed his eyes at Michael, and for just a split second, Michael thought he saw the new demigod's eyes burst into flames before changing back to sea green. He stepped back involuntarily in a moment of panic, before shaking his head as if to clear it and stepping forwards again.

"Did you really think I would bow before you, centurion?" Percy questioned, his voice laced with venom. "You turn your back on the legionnaires belonging to you own legion! You should be supportive of your own, regardless of whether they are from a different cohort. In a legion like this, strength comes from within the bonds of unity among legionnaires, but sadly, I have not seen any of that today" Percy hissed.

"When the centurions of the 5th and the 4th lost, you jeered at them as if they were not your own! Do you degrade your own people in such a way on a daily basis? You, centurion, are the weak link in the chain of the Roman Empire" he finished with a not-so-subtle innuendo.

Michael tried to look unaffected but Percy saw unease in his eye.

"They were weak, and that is the fact of the matter" he said, not noticing that ever so subtly, Percy's shoulder tensed, a sure sign that he was hiding deep anger.

The other two centurions nodded approvingly of the centurion of the first cohort's words.

Percy did not fail to notice and his body shook slightly as he tried his level best to keep himself composed.

"I challenge all three of you to fight me in the next battle" he hissed in a low, threatening voice. A pin drop silence suddenly fell over the crowd.

It was broken by Kahalle who laughed mockingly and after a few seconds of stunned silence the other two centurions joined in.

"Do you really think that you can beat even one of us, let alone all of us at once?" he challenged. "We aren't weaklings, such as those two, he said, indicating first towards Samantha, who was a couple steps behind Percy and then at Gwen who was standing at the edge of the arena, angered beyond belief at the words of the centurion.

"Why don't you let your sword do the talking?" said Percy challengingly. "Trash talk ain't getting you nowhere."

"On your own head, be it" said Michael, unsheathing his sword.

At his signal, Hank and Larry also took out their respective weapons. Hank used a pilum while Larry had a sword similar to Michael's in his hand.

However, before they could begin, Percy to the surprise of everyone in the stands, as well as Michael, Hank and Larry, turned riptide back into a pen.

"Too scared to fight us like a man?" Michael said mockingly, while his two companions snickered along.

"I don't need a weapon to beat you three softies" Percy shot back. He widened the distance between his legs, lowering his center of gravity, putting himself in a classic martial arts position.

"You'll see where your bravado gets you soon enough, tough guy" sneered Michael.

At his signal, Larry and Hank advanced forwards as Michael himself hung back. Percy did not fail to notice this. However, he had resolved to finish this fight as quickly as possible and put the people who had mocked their own legion's members into a world of pain.

As Hank's pilum stabbed in, Percy moved to the side, and as the spear went past him, lashed out with his foot, hitting the spear in the middle. The actions sent the spear flying into the air out of Hank's hands. Percy quickly spun himself around and shot a spinning kick at Hank's chest. A dull thump echoed around the arena as the foot impacted Hank's chest, sending him flying off his feet.

Percy turned just in time to see Larry's blade incoming in a downwards arc, such as the ones he himself used. Percy stepped to his left, then right, in quick succession, as Larry followed up his first strike by quickly drawing his sword back and thrusting it out.

Although he was not wearing any armor, Percy had a celestial bronze gauntlet on his left hand. He had taken its paired gauntlet off and put it in his rucksack that he had left in the corner of the arena, by the door by use of which he had entered the arena.

With a perfectly timed and executed move, Percy -using the palm of his left hand- struck at the sword, causing it to veer off course. To the inexperienced and even the somewhat more experienced legionnaires, it looked like luck but the remainder saw the perfectly executed deflection and had to stop themselves from clapping.

It was a rule that while a fight was going on, loud noises were forbidden as they could potentially distract the fighters, resulting in fatal injuries.

The force of Percy's open-palm hit on his sword sent Larry stumbling forward. Percy -seeing Michael Kahalle advancing in his peripheral vison- merely spun and kicked Larry hard in the mid back adding to his forwards momentum, sending Larry face first into the ground.

Michael slashed viciously, not caring if he caused a fatal wound, blinded by anger. He was also disgusted by the supposedly strong centurions taken down by this newbie in a matter of seconds. He was on a self imposed mission. A mission to put this demigod in his place.

Percy dodged his next strike by leaning his body back while simultaneously taking a step to his left. The blade missed by a hair's breadth. To most it was pure luck, but Reyna and some of the veterans saw the beautifully pulled off maneuver with barely disguised awe. He seemed to be as graceful as a ballet dancer, avoiding all of Michael's strikes smoothly and efficiently.

Michael, growing frustrated, amped it up, sending strikes at Percy with all of the speed and power he could put into them. Percy however, was not fazed in the slightest as he continued dodging Michael's frenzied swings.

Most of the crowd, especially the 4th and 5th legions barely controlled snickers. Even the members of the 1st cohort found it hard not laugh at their centurion. Although he was incredibly skilled, Michael was a stuck up self centered brat always praising himself while degrading others.

As his lunges, swings and blows all failed to connect, he grew increasingly frustrated. Percy decided to end this frustration and as Michael started to draw back after a particularly violent attempt, Percy struck, sending a blistering series of kicks into his opponents stomach.

Even though he was wearing armor, the son of Venus had the breath literally knocked right out of him. Percy spun, picking up momentum and as he turned, lashed his foot out in a wide upwards arc. The strike caught Michael right in the chest, sending him flying back 10 ft. Where he crumpled to the ground, clutching his midsection and gasping for breath.

It was only then that Percy noticed that Hank had been knocked unconscious on account of his head striking the ground. The soft ground cushioned his fall greatly but did knock him unconscious for a few minutes.

As he slowly came to, he looked about groggily before remembering where he was with a start. However, he was in no shape to fight and he made no move to get up, trying to shake the cobwebs from his head and trying desperately to ease the ache in his cranium.

Larry however got up and charged at Percy again. Percy did not even move from his current position as Larry came up and tried to strike at his legs. Percy jumped over the blade easily, and when he landed on the ground, turned the kinetic energy from his foot hitting the ground into elastic energy as he brought his knee up hard, slamming it into his opponents midriff making him grunt and crumple to the ground , gasping for air. He wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon.

Apparently all three of his adversaries would be sporting stomach aches for the better part of a week, even with godly food and pain meds.

"You'll pay for this" a voice rasped out behind Percy.

Michael Kahalle was, surprisingly, on his feet. He picked up his sword from where it has fallen. "Nothing will stop me from destroying you" he said, trying to intimidate Percy.

Before Michael could even swing a single time, Percy unleashed a vicious kick to his knees because of which his opponent's knee bent. This caused Michael to stumble and land on one foot. Quick as a flash, Percy, for the first time in the fight, used his hands offensively. He clapped Michael on both sides of the head, palms open.

With a final groan of defeat, Michael's body became limp, as he fell forwards, unconscious. He had been knocked cold by that last blow.

Percy straightened, with no indication of tiredness and weariness.

The crowd was mostly on its feet. As they were now free to talk and make noise -due to the fighting drawing to a close- the crowd broke out into hushed, urgent conversations.

They had not seen a demigod with this level of skill, especially a new one, when he was new to the camp. They were still speculating amongst themselves about where his strength stemmed from, when Reyna stood up regally, her Praetors cape flowing behind her. She looked the perfect image of a queen, standing proudly with head held high.

She radiated power and authority -a strong aura of it- and the crowd quitened as they noticed her stand up. Despite herself, Reyna was extremely impressed by Percy's performance. She had not known a demigod rivaling his skill and strength, except perhaps herself and Jason Grace.

"Perseus Jackson has completed the rites of entry successfully, beating senior legionnaires of all 5 cohorts. He deserves without a doubt, to join any cohort which he may wish to" she boomed, radiating authority. "In the meantime, the injured centurions should be helped by the medics in their respective cohorts."

Medics rushed on to the arena floor, about 5-6 each for the 1st 2nd and 3rd cohorts, from where they had been sitting with their cohort members. The downed centurions' wounds were skillfully checked upon and nectar and ambrosia were fed where the injuries were more serious.

Kahalle, who has just regained consciousness, was glaring at Percy with deep hatred burning in his eyes. "This is not the end" he muttered.

Percy noticed that the blonde lanky guy from before was also wearing a disappointed, disgusted scowl on his face. Percy however paid it no mind. His mind was already made up, having decided which cohort he wanted to join.

"Have you decided, Perseus?" questioned Reyna.

"I have praetor" Percy said, taking a deep breath. He knew he was doing the right thing and he felt no hesitation as he spoke clearly, his voice unwavering.

"If they will have me, I choose….

AN: Yeah, I know I'm evil ending here. Well no , not really cuz it's not much of a cliffy, is it now? Well anyways, a huge thanks to all those guys who viewed followed and favorite-d my story. Thank you so much for getting me above 1000 views, I never imagined I'd get there so soon if at all. I've now got more than 50 follows and almost the same number of favorites. Thanks! I'd like to thank my reviewers too (your reviews really make my day).

On another note, this chapter was the longest I've ever done and was about 12000 words long (11673). Treat for you guys, huh? I'll hopefully be ready to post a chapter next weekend. Until then, PEACE OUT !

 **-HOA11**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys ! Here's chapter 4 for ya. I'm really thankful to you guys for getting me over 2500 views , and almost a 100 follows and 70 favorites ! Also, since the reviews for this story are increasing in number, I may not be able to answer all of them here.. ill just pick some up at random and reply. To the ones I don't reply, I love you guys!^_^ your reviews never fail to make my day.

 _ **Dragonborn053:Love the chapter. And the epic fight scenes. Keep it up.**_

Thanks so much ! I'm glad ya liked it ! I hope you continue to stick around, you're one of my favorite reviewers… *hugs*

 _ **pontus first god of the sea: Another amazing chapter! I love the detail in the fight scenes however I am excited to see Percy finally use some power, hopefully soon? But as to your response to my review and name, I chose the name because he is the imbodiment of the sea and therefore the first god, glad you recognized it**_

Thanks ever so much ! You'll get what you want soon enough… some demigod powers used by Percy here… I'll amp the power usage up in a bit…. Stick around ! Thanks again.

 _ **Darrenn100 :hmm... I wonder when Percy will get together with Arty :P**_

Patience, my friend. Percy will get together with our favorite silver eyed goddess soon enough… just be patient, imma take this slowly, allow the story to build up a bit first… thanks for your review !

 _ **Hope chapter: More updates please love this story so far please don't forget about it**_

I ain't forgetting this story, rest easy…. There may be gaps where I won't be able to upload due to exams or other such anomalies….. thanks for your review !

 _ **DarkGamer159 chapter 3 . Feb 28**_

 _ **Not a bad chapter,**_

 _ **There are a few bits and pieces that could've been different like how Reyna just washed away that he destroyed their home, where they then got captured by the pirates and were slaves. If that would happen to anyone i don't really think you would forgive so easily.**_

 _ **I think it's good that he lost to Lupa, cuz she is a goddess but it looks like if he used his powers then he would defeat her, wich is almost impossible.**_

 _ **I still think that Hera and Hestia were much too generous with their gifts. Especially because percy hadn't really proven himself yet. Yes he did kill a watered down version of Kronos but he didn't go on a specific quest to become a champion or to get any gift.**_

Loved reading your review cuz of the detail in it ! I'll clear up why I made events happen in the way I did…..Well, firstly, the thing with Reyna. Sure he destroyed the island, and so, her home, but in the process he freed her and her sister from a long life of manipulation… Reyna calls it even….second, when he lost to Lupa and you said the way I made it sound, he would've won if he used powers. Well, Lupa wasn't using her powers here, was she ? Like, she could use her powers too, and he'd have no chance of winning then… as for the Gods. .. they're a bit OC, I know… I'm sorry but I don't he an explanation for that.

Kay, I'm done. Enjoy the chapter guys !

Chapter 4

Disclaimer: All rights to the Percy Jackson universe are reserved by Rick Riordan. I do this for fun and do not gain any monetary benefits from this.

Enjoy chapter 4, fellas !

"If they will have me, I choose…"Percy paused for a split second, recalculating his decision and then nodding with finality. "I choose the fifth cohort" he announced loudly.

The previously loud arena became as still as the grave at his words. The Romans were shocked beyond belief. This boy, had come seeking admittance into the Legion and gone through the rites of passage. He had beat each and every one of the Legion's centurions and was eligible to join any of the 5 cohorts.

Naturally to them, he should've chosen the first cohort, the most powerful, elite cohort Rome had to offer. He however, shocked everyone by selecting the fifth, arguably the least skilled cohort.

Percy looked towards the praetor's seats. Reyna had shock and disbelief etched across her face as well, her brow furrowed in thought. Then suddenly she shook her head as if to clear it and smiled softly. Instead of questioning his decision, she spoke, directing her words towards the fifth cohort. "Is the fifth cohort agreeable to adding Perseus Jackson into its ranks?" she asked loudly.

She looked expectantly towards the part of the arena where the fifth were sitting. Gwen too, was looking at her cohort expectantly , waiting to hear if anyone had an objection to Percy joining them. When none came, Gwen turned quickly to Reyna, a glowing smile on her face.

"Praetor, the fifth accepts Perseus Jackson as one of its own" she intoned formally, beating her sword on her shield after finishing. The fifth cohort followed, those of them who had shields began banging their weapons on them and those that didn't hit the shafts of their spears on the stone floor.

This was a Roman tradition to welcome new members into a cohort.

Reyna nodded, then shouted out her next sentence. "I now present, Percy Jackson, newest member of the fifth cohort of the twelfth legion fulminata" spoke Reyna.

Some of the crowd broke into applause and whistles to welcome him while some looked at Percy with distrust. Poseidon really wasn't their favorite god by a long shot, Percy thought ruefully. I'm going to have to work hard to get them to warm up to me.

Reyna spoke again, breaking Percy out of his line of thought "He is henceforth released into your custody and care. Take him to Octavian in the temple of Zeus to judge him worthy. When that is concluded, bring him to me since I have a few things I need to clear up with him. He also needs to be branded with 'the mark'."

"It shall be done, Praetor" Gwen bowed formally and stiffly.

"Romans, back to your tasks!" bellowed Reyna, making the Romans rise as one and start moving to the exits in orderly lines. Even during informal events they were like this. Disciplined, orderly and neat. As the masses left, Gwen reached Percy.

"Welcome to the fifth, scrub" she said cheerfully and mischievously at the same time.

"I don't really think you're entitled to call me scrub since I just beat you up" Percy shot back good naturedly, the sting of his words nullified by his smile.

Gwen scowled at having been reminded of her defeat. "Beginner's luck" she said half heartedly. "Anyways, you gotta listen to my orders since I'm in charge of you as Reyna said, since I'm your centurion."

"Yeah, about that, could you explain what she meant by 'he is henceforth released into your custody and care' ?" Percy asked.

"Once a legionnaire has been put in charge of a new recruit, he or she is responsible for the upbringing of the demigod about Roman culture and fighting. To put it simply, you are my charge and I'm your mentor. Don't mess up though, since they'll hold me responsible, and we just can't have you messing up my track record, now, can we?" she said, speaking the last bit with a trace of amusement.

"Well, then I'll try not to get in your way too much" Percy said, not wanting to jeopardize Gwen's place in the Legion. "So, where are we going?"

"To the temple of Jupiter on the hill right there" she pointed out the flat topped hill Hazel and Frank had told him about. "Octavian, who is the camp's augur stays there most of the time, although he is a centurion of the first along with Michael. He tells prophecies and stuff, or claims to, at least. He's a legacy of Apollo."

"Ahh" said Percy, nodding his head in understanding.

"So, you said you'd tell me where you got your sword" Gwen said hopefully.

"I didn't say I'd do it right now, Gwen" Percy replied. He saw her shoulders droop slightly and a frown of disappointment adorn her face. He decided that Gwen could be trusted, and as she was his mentor along with being his cohort's centurion. If they wanted to become friends, and fight together, trusting each other was the key component to that.

"Fine, I'll tell you" he said, making her perk up immediately. "It was a gift from my father, a while back" Percy said, trying to get the topic over with.

Gwen however was getting more curious by the second

"How dyou know your dad? Most demigods never even talk to their godly parent once in their whole lifetime" she said, a bit sadly at the end. Percy deduced that she had never met her godly parent.

Percy ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Well, the cat was out of the bag now. Might as well tell her. He told her all about the Greek gods, camp half blood and the decision of the gods to send him here while Jason was taken to camp half blood. He only excluded his last day at camp, the deaths of his parents and that he was the champion of two major goddesses.

Gwen's eyes widened further and further until finally, at the end of his account, they were as large as dinner plates. "Damn, that's a lot to take in" she muttered.

"You must swear to not tell anyone, though" Percy said seriously.

"Fine. I swear on the Styx to not talk to anyone about what we just discussed."

Thunder rumbled loudly in the background, accepting the oath.

"Good enough for me" said Percy.

As they chatted, they had continued to walk and were now at the top of the small hill. Unlike most of the other major gods, who's temples were grand and ostentatious, Neptune's was a small shed with a cobweb covered trident nailed above the door, and three dried up, moldy apples left inside as an offering. It was derelict and abandoned and wild grass was growing right up to the doorway. Trees put the temple into shadow, giving it a gloomy, haunted look.

He turned and saw that Gwen was looking on sympathetically. "You okay?" she asked having followed his gaze and knowing how he must be feeling.

"Yeah its not really a big deal. Why do the Romans hate Neptune so much anyways? And who is your godly parent?" inquired Percy, brimming with questions himself.

"Part of the reason Camp Jupiter considers Neptune's children bad luck is because of an event in 1906, when his descendant, Shen Lun, was thought to create a major earthquake and was banished from the camp. However the main reason is that once the Romans attacked the Trojans, sailing to troy in warships. Juno, however had done something or other to displease Neptune and as she was siding with the Romans, Neptune had sided with the Trojans. He had sunk the whole Roman fleet with a massive storm while they were at sea. The Romans have not been seafaring people from the beginning and detest Poseidon, even though they are scared of him and do respect him" Gwen finished.

"That explains it" said Percy, slightly disappointed nonetheless.

"I'm a child of Apollo" she said nonchalantly.

"Explains the hair and the eye color" Percy said

As they talked, they reached the temple of Jupiter. It was an awe inspiring sight. It had a round pavilion with a ring of white columns supporting the domed roof, lightning bolts etched into them. There was a marble floor that was engraved with many mosaics and Latin inscriptions. The height of the gold ceiling was above 60 feet. The temple was open so that the wind could get in unhindered. In the center of the temple, there was a marble altar and a statue of Jupiter holding the Master Bolt.

It doesn't look anything like the actual master bolt, Percy mused to himself silently.

As they went in Percy noticed bits of cotton stuffing lying about here and there. He traced the bits of cotton to their source. The 'source' was a young, scrawny kid, who was kneeling at the foot of the throne and was about to rip apart a stuffed bunny with an imperial gold knife.

He was wearing a robe of a thin golden material. It would've looked nice on a normal person , but the kid seemed to be drowning in it. He was so thin and small that one might mistake him for a 14 year old. Percy drew nearer and suppressed a look of surprise. It was the same guy who had stepped into the arena with the three centurions but had stayed a ways away from the actual fighting.

Now that there was a scant 10 ft. difference between them, Percy was free to take a close look at him. Octavian was a skinny youth with blond hair, crazed blue eyes, and skin as pale as Nico's. Octavian's attire consisted of a white toga over a blue shirt and jeans. His tattoo was composed of a lyre, the symbol of his ancestor Apollo, with SPQR inscribed above seven lines which represented seven years' service in the Legion.

Octavian suddenly seemed to notice them. He turned around and smiled what he thought was a sinister, mysterious smile. Percy thought it rather looked like Octavian had a stomach ache or something of the like.

"Well, well, well" he drawled, in an oily, nasal voice. "Look who we have here! The centurion of the fifth cohort and the new demigod who seems to have joined said cohort." This was a supposedly veiled jab directed at both Gwen and Percy, although both of them realized it for what it was.

While Percy was easily able to keep his cool despite Octavian's petty comments, Gwen, it seemed was not.

"Octavian read your damned auguries so that I can get on with my life" she snapped hotly.

"My, oh my, someone's touchy today. Mustn't lose your cool" Octavian said in a slow, mocking tone, as if he was talking to a little baby.

At Gwen's threatening look coupled with her hand going automatically towards the sword at her waist, Octavian relented. "Ok, ok, I'll do it."

He muttered a hymn to Apollo and then ripped apart another teddy bear.

"Perseus Jackson, my auguries tell me that you are destined for greatness. It seems you pose no ill will to us, and so, are able to remain in the camp without trouble." His tone suddenly changed into one that was much more silky in nature and a lot more deceiving.

"If you want, however, I could help you along on your path to glory" he said, startling to circle Percy, ignoring Gwen's glare completely. "Call it a joint business partnership, if you will. I help you on your road and you return the favor once you are politically powerful enough to do so." Octavian spoke like a master of manipulation, which in all essence of the phrase, he was.

Percy, however had the stronger will and was easily able to retain his cold, hard mask. He was surprised Octavian wasn't a son of Venus, because of his manipulative speaking skills. Percy controlled his emotion perfectly, yet again.

"Why do you think that I would accept your, er, proposition, for lack of a better word? I feel that I can achieve my destiny without your help. You're naught but a sniveling coward with the silver tongue of a wily snake" Percy said, causing Octavian's face to redden in anger.

This caused his face to lose the deceptive friendly mask that it had worn before and the crazed blue eyes hardened. "Without me you will fail! You will know what I meant when you are lost and alone, with no support and no friends. On your own head, be it" he said with the barest hint of a threat. "Graecus" he muttered angrily.

Graecus meant a Greek, an outsider that did not belong anywhere near the Legion. Octavian's empty words did not faze Percy in the slightest however. It came as a surprise to Percy that Octavian knew who he was, but he pushed it down. It was of no consequence to him.

"Gwen, now that we have this guy's blessing thingie" he indicated Octavian. "Can we go somewhere where it doesn't stink so much?" Octavian it seemed, used scented candles while he consulted his auguries. Gwen snorted with laughter, causing Octavian to glare dirtily at her.

Had either of the two noticed Octavian's expression, they would've known that something was going on in his brain, but neither of them did, and they walked out.

"Where to next, centurion?" Percy asked formally.

"There's no need for that, Percy, you can act informal around me, especially when we're alone."

"Good to know. So, where to next, Gwen ?" he corrected his earlier statement.

"Back to the Principia, where you will get your brand. Reyna also requested your presence, so, there's that as well" Gwen listed off. "Let's get cracking!"

Percy just nodded, wondering what Reyna wanted to talk about. They entered Rome again after a while, in companionable silence as Percy looked around, keen to explore the city.

Finally, they were back in front of the Principia whose banner fluttered in the breeze merrily. The banner had the letters SPQR on it, surrounded by a laurel wreath. Beneath the wreath '12th legion fulminata' was written in bold, golden script.

As Gwen drew near with Percy, the guards saluted Gwen smartly, then stepped back from the doors. Gwen confidently walked to the door with Percy in tow. Both stepped inside.

Inside, on the ceiling glittered a mosaic of Romulus and Remus under Lupa. The floor was polished marble and the walls were draped in velvet, making it feel like being inside the world's most expensive camping tent. Along the back wall stood a display of banners and wooden poles studded with bronze medals, military symbols, Percy guessed. In the center was one empty display stand which drew an inquisitive look from Percy although he did not comment.

In the back corner, a stairwell led down and was blocked by a row of iron bars like a prison door. A guard stood near the door, probably the keeper of the keys to the door. In the center of the room, a long wooden table was cluttered with scrolls, notebooks, tablet computers, daggers, and a large bowl filled with jelly beans. Behind the table, there were two high-backed chairs meant for the Praetors.

Reyna was standing with her back to Gwen and Percy, poring over various scrolls and bits of parchment. She turned towards them when they entered.

"Ahh, good, you're here" she said. I didn't expect you for a while though. How did you get away from Octavian so soon?" she asked, tilting her head to the side inquisitively. "I would've thought that he would try to put you under his influence, after him seeing that you were so powerful."

"Percy gave him a piece of his mind" Gwen proudly said, drawing a somewhat impressed look from Reyna. "It deterred Octavian quickly enough."

"Not bad, Perseus" said Reyna. "I wish there were more people like you who could stand up to Octavian's manipulations in the Legion."

Percy groaned. "Reyna, please, just call me Percy."

"Or what ?" she questioned, a hint of amusement in her eyes.

Percy perked up and a crafty look came into eyes. "Or I might forgot to not call you Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano" he returned mischievously.

"You… you wouldn't" she said, looking scandalized.

"Try me" he shrugged.

"Ughhhh, okay, okay, I'll call you Percy" she said exasperatedly, throwing up her hands in defeat. "I take it Octavian did consult his auguries and give you the go-ahead to join the Legion?"

"I don't think he had a choice, really", said Gwen. "Even with all of his supporters, most of the Legion would be breathing down his neck, more or less forcing him to accept Percy."

Reyna nodded. She had come to the same conclusion. "Perseu…. Percy" she corrected hurriedly. "Now we have to brand you with the mark of the Legion. Since you are the first to pass the induction trial for entrance into the Legion, it is largely felt that you have already proven yourself to the Legion and are not in requirement of a probatio tablet."

She walked to the corner of the room where braziers were glowing, numerous brands placed into them. She took out one and brought it over. Percy saw that it had SPQR stamped on it. She motioned him towards one of the chairs by jerking her head. Percy sat down without question and held out his arm.

Reyna came forwards and Gwen looked on from 5 ft. away. Reyna pressed the brand to his arm. Due to Hestia's blessing, Percy's body was resistant to fire. He did however, will his skin to accept the brand unto his body.

Reyna kept her eyes on her task, keeping the brand as straight as possible. When she drew it away, a bold, black 'SPQR', was branded onto his arm. She turned to Percy and looked at him in awe. The branding process was something all the new recruits dreaded and for good reason. Simply put, it hurt.

Even the likes of Reyna, Jason and Michael Kahalle had winced, let out a suppressed groan or hissed in pain. Percy however, had surprised her yet again. He had not even closed his eyes or gritted his teeth. He had not shown the slightest indication of pain.

"How did you…?" she let the question hang.

Percy was uncomfortable about telling anyone about his patron goddesses yet, so he simply said: "I have a really high pain threshold is all. You kinda have to, to survive as I have for so long" he said airily, shrugging his shoulders.

Reyna still looked at him suspiciously, but let it drop. There would be time for an inquisition later on. For now she went to the braziers and took out the brand that was used to mark the bars that indicated years of service in the Legion. She pressed the bar into his arm again, keeping one eye on the brand and the other curiously on his faze, watching for an expression of discomfort or pain. None came and Percy avoided her eyes.

Finally, she went to another of the braziers and picked up a brand with a trident symbol, the symbol of power of Neptune. She pressed it into his arm. After his arm was branded with the symbol of Neptune, she placed the last brand in the brazier again and Percy stood up, stretching his arms.

Reyna checked her watch. The luminous face showed it was 9 o'clock. She cursed in Latin, but Percy understood what she had said. His brain, of course, was hardwired for both Greek and Roman.

"I'm afraid we'll have to take a rain check on that chat" she said to Percy. "We'll talk tomorrow when we both have the time to spare. Gwen will take you to the 5th cohort's barracks" she said and Gwen nodded. "Well, good night, Percy, see you tomorrow."

"Night" Percy waved before going outside the door with Gwen. At nighttime, new Rome was lit by flaming torches that lit the cobbled streets, throwing warm comforting flames all over the small city.

She walked towards the outskirts of the town and Percy followed. The barracks were on the edges of the field of Mars, with the armory just a short distance from that. "We'll have to visit the armory to get your armor for the war games tomorrow" she said, pointing out the building to Percy.

As they walked towards the barracks, Percy saw a pedestal on which was mounted a head. It was near the border of the camp closest to the barracks. "What's that?" he asked, pointing.

"That's terminus, the God of boundaries" she explained. "He may not look it, but he's very powerful. No one gets into the camp without him knowing about it. He raises the alarm at once if a threat to the Legion enters new Rome's borders.

"You'll meet him sometime, I'm sure" she said.

As they continued on, Percy noticed that the barracks were arrayed in a loose crescent, with the barracks of the first cohort in the middle with the 2nd on its right , 50 yards away and the 4th cohort's to the far right, at the same distance. The 3rd cohort's barracks were to the left of the 1st and the furthest left was occupied by the 5th.

Gwen led him to the barracks. The barracks were quite large, made of plain stone, and looked like they would hold the entire cohort with ease. The words '5th cohort, 12th legion fulminata' was stamped on a plaque outside of the door.

Gwen pushed the door open and walked in before holding it open for Percy. Percy stepped into his new 'home' and looked around. There were bunks running the length of the room. At the end, a ways away from the beds were the bathrooms.

Everyone looked up as they entered.

"Guys, this is Percy, the newest member of the 5th" Gwen said, getting the formality of introducing him over with.

They all nodded and some waved briefly, before returning to what they had been doing before.

Gwen led him to a bunk that was near the door. "The bunk on the top is yours" she said. "I have the top bunk to your right, so if ya want anything, just yell."

There was a guy about a couple years older than Percy lying down on the bunk below Gwen's, drinking a bottle of something labeled Kool-Aid. His mouth, Percy noticed, was stained vampire red around the edges because of the drink. He was tall and very buff, with curly black hair. His eyes were blue and didn't quite line up.

"This is Dakota, the junior centurion of the fifth cohort" Gwen said by way of introduction. "He's a son of Bacchus, and is addicted to Kool-Aid."

Percy nodded and went forwards to where Dakota was lying down

"Percy Jackson" he said, holding out his hand.

"Dakota" he replied simply, squeezing Percy's hand. "Welcome to the party, Percy" he said in a slightly slurred voice, indicating that he was on the brink of being drunk.

Meanwhile Gwen went out into the main aisle and shouted "Lights out in 30 seconds, into your bunks!"

The legionnaires who were out of their beds scrambled to get into their respective bunks. Gwen went to the door and flipped the switch that turned the lights out. Guiding herself by the soft moonlight coming in through the windows, she reached her bunk and climbed up it, muttering a "Gnight" to Dakota.

When everyone was settled and it was mostly silent, Gwen turned toward Percy to see him staring out of the window, lost in thought.

"How was your first day, Perce?" she asked, breaking him out of his reverie.

"To be honest, I rather enjoyed it. Especially putting those centurions in their place" he said, a disgusted tone coming into his sentence as he grinned, eyes alight with mischief. "I got to meet a couple people too and for the most part I like them. Hazel and Frank were nice to me and seemed like good people and I look forward to getting to know them" he said honestly.

"You've been a great help, and you seem to have such an open, fun personality. I'd love to become a close friend of yours" he said, making her blush at his praise. Reyna seems nice enough as well, and since we'll be spending time together due to her wanting to ask me questions, we may become close friends as well" he said, as an afterthought.

Gwen had blushed lightly at Percy's praise though he could not see it. "You're not too bad yourself, Perce" she said lightly.

"When did we get to you calling me 'Perce', anyways?" he asked mischievously.

"Well, you call me Gwen so it's only fair I call you by a shortened version of your name. Shorter than 'Percy' anyways" she said hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't object.

To her relief, he just chuckled good naturedly. "Fair enough" he said.

"Anyways, Percy, we have a long day tomorrow, what with the war games and all, and we both need our rest" she said. "Go to sleep. I'm gonna wake you up at 8 o'clock on the dot tomorrow morning."

"Kay" Percy said simply. "Good night, Gwen."

"Night Perce" she muttered, already dropping off to sleep. The day had been pretty taxing for her after all.

Percy lay awake for a while longer, going over the day's events. Michael's actions had disgusted him to no end and Percy had barely controlled himself from smashing Michael to a pulp in front of everyone. However, he did not think that Michael was the sole antagonist. He was suspicious of Octavian. The augur was power-hungry, extremely so, and craved it more than anything else. He was someone to keep an eye on in the future.

With these thoughts mulling around his head, Percy dropped off.

The next morning as the sun's rays peeked over temple hill and infiltrated the barracks' windows, Percy awoke abruptly. After so many months training with Lupa, his body was used to waking up at this time everyday. He tossed and turned, trying to go to sleep again but to no avail.

Finally deciding that he wasn't going to get any more sleep, he rolled out of bed, landing lightly on the ground. Another thing Lupa had taught him was stealth, an essential ability to have. He could now move through the forest as silently as a spectre, leaving no traces as to his presence. In comparison, navigating through the sea of beds to the bathrooms was child's play.

He took care of the call of nature and since it was still early, he decided to take a shower. He took a nice, long, warm shower, before coming out wrapped in a towel. He changed into black pants that were meant for jogging. He donned a matching black tee-shirt and then went back to his bunk.

Climbing it, he opened the duffel bag that he had retrieved from the arena on his way out. Both his gauntlets were there along with a 8×5 piece of paper. The piece of paper , was , in fact the last remnant he had of his mother. He carried it with him at all times and clung to it tightly through all his trials and tribulations.

He took it out and looked at it fondly. It had been taken on Montauk beach during one of their yearly visits to get away from Gabe for a while and get some rare mother-son time. In it, him and his mom were both smiling at the camera happily. The worry-lines that usually marked his mother's face were absent. In the background was the ocean, waves breaking over the shore and then retreating back to the sea. The sky was a beautiful blue, with just a hint of clouds. Perfect.

As Percy scrutinized the picture, his mind was suddenly flooded with memories of his mother. She had been the perfect mother, he said to himself. Smart, clever, compassionate, loving, empathetic, humble and everything else a mother could possibly be. She had supported him through thick and thin and always been at his side and done all she could to make him happy and comfortable, prioritizing him over herself.

She had married Gabe just so that she could protect him from monsters who would have sniffed him out otherwise, but had been deterred by Gabe's overpowering mortal scent. She had done all he could ask of a mother and more. He loved her with all of his heart unconditionally but he wouldn't be able to tell her that anymore since she… since she had….

Percy sniffed softly, a few tears forming in his eyes and running down his face. He tried to control himself but it was impossible. Suddenly a hand grasped his shoulder and he looked into the concerned blue eyes of Gwen.

"Perce, what's wrong?" she asked, worried.

"It's just…. My mother…. She died a while before I came here" he said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, rather harder than necessary, feeling rather vulnerable.

"Oh Percy, I'm so sorry" Gwen said, wrapping one arm around her charge and hopefully, friend.

"It's okay, Gwen, it's not your fault" he said brokenly. "I killed the monsters that killed my mother but that won't bring her back."

"I wish I could do something to comfort you" Gwen said, a helpless expression on her face.

"Just listening was enough, Gwen" Percy said gratefully, having rubbed the tears from his eyes. "Thanks so much."

"Glad I helped" she said, waving his thanks away. "A family has to support its members to make the chain strong, does it not?" she said, using Percy's words from last night.

It was enough to make him grin weakly.

"Now get off your butt and go shower, I'm gonna wake the cohort. You might want to grab a shower before the rest wake up and start hurrying everyone out of there" she advised.

"Would've been a good idea if I hadn't done so already" he smirked.

"Since when have you been up?" Gwen asked, perplexed.

"I woke with the sun" Percy said, grinning. "Since it's 7:30, I've been up for a bit over two hours or so."

Gwen nodded, a surprised look still on her face.

"Well, in that case, sit around for a bit, I'll wake these guys and then take you to the mess for breakfast" she said.

"Sure" he shrugged.

Gwen jumped down from her bunk, making considerably more noise than Percy had earlier.

She walked over to a red button inside a glass box. She opened the cover and pushed it. A wailing, klaxon-like noise cut through the air, and many legionnaires tumbled out of their beds, rubbing their eyes blearily.

They stumbled to the showers as Gwen came over to me, a triumphant smile on her face. "Works every time" she said smugly.

Percy had covered his ears at the sudden sound, but his hands had not been enough to prevent his head from ringing painfully.

"Let's just go" he muttered, shaking his head while he gave her a rueful grin. The pain subsided as they walked outside. Gwen led the way to the mess hall, which was on the outskirts of the via principia, a short way away from the barracks.

The mess hall was large and rectangular and had been constructed using stone. There were two large wooden doors, that were presently open. Inside there were five long tables, one for each legion.

At the moment, about three fourths of the total legionnaires were present, eating, and talking to each other. There was a raised podium where a mahogany table lay. There were two seats behind the table, but only one of them was occupied. Reyna was sitting in the chair eating her breakfast. She looked up when Percy and Gwen came in and motioned them towards a table whose far edge was right in front of the raised podium.

Percy and Gwen made their way over to the table Reyna had indicated, moving down the middle of the mess.

"Isn't this the table for the first?" Percy questioned. The table Reyna indicated went down the middle and was the longest. Percy thought this was the table used by the first cohort.

"Yeah, but a cohort just has to be present at its table for official announcements that aren't announced on the field of Mars" Gwen replied.

Percy nodded, satisfied with the explanation.

"Morning" greeted Reyna, when the two were close.

"Morning Reyna" said Percy, and Gwen greeted Reyna as well.

"So, Percy, you ready for the war games this evening?" Reyna inquired.

"I'm stoked" Percy grinned. "Gwen's gonna take me to the armory after breakfast to get me kitted out."

"Hmm. Okay."

As Percy and Gwen sat down, Gwen closed her eyes and muttered something and suddenly, a plate of eggs, bacon and toast whizzed down the table, coming to a stop in front of Gwen. He saw a small, bluish humanoid shape in the air before it disappeared.

Gwen saw him looking at her plate in confusion. "Wind spirits. You ask for something to eat, and they'll get it for you."

"Oh" he said, understanding dawning on his face. He immediately closed his eyes and a plate whizzed down to land in front of him. A glass of orange juice followed the plate.

"I could get used to this" Percy said with a toothy grin.

Gwen and Reyna smiled at the demigod's antics. The three chatted and ate at the same time. When all of them were finished, Reyna stood up.

"Legionnaires! As you know, war games are going to be held in the field of Mars come sundown. It will be a game of capture the flag. The 1st and 2nd cohorts will face off against the other three", she yelled, to cheers and clapping from the Romans. All of them looked forward to war games as they could test their skills and face off against friends or settle grudges on the battlefield.

"The first two cohorts will be defending, in the castle, and the other three will be attacking" she finished her announcement, and walked out of the mess after saying goodbye to Percy and Gwen, Praetors cape flowing behind her.

"Well, let's get going, scrub" Gwen said playfully, earning a glare from the son of Neptune. "We gotta get you into some armor."

They walked out of the mess and turned onto the via principia again. The armory was located right on the edge of the field of Mars, a short distance from the barracks and the Principia.

They entered the rectangular, stone structure. There was a hiss of steam as they entered, coming from a red-hot sword that had just been doused in water. Percy's eyes were immediately drawn to the man holding the now finished sword.

He was on the shorter side, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in pure muscle mass. The man was extremely ripped. His biceps were just huge. He had on a mask to protect his face but took it off when he turned to greet the two.

"Hey Gwen, what brings you here? And who do we have here?" he rumbled in a deep bass, looking at Percy.

"Percy, this is the Legion's armorer, John Shelton, she said by way of introduction. "John, this is Percy, our newest legionnaire."

"So, this is the one they're all talking about" he muttered, looking at Percy with newfound respect. "Not many who could've done what you did" he said gruffly. "I'm a son of Vulcan, before you ask. You, I take it, are a son of Neptune" he asked, prompting Percy to nod his head.

"Well, what is it that you two want?"

"We came by to get a suit of armor for Percy for the war games tonight" Gwen explained.

He simply nodded, this being no out-of-the-ordinary occurrence. "Well, boy, come here so that I can take your measurements" he said to Percy.

After taking Percy's measurements and jotting them down, he turned to the Percy. I'll have this done in five hours, so you can come and collect it around 4 o'clock.

Percy nodded gratefully, and thanked John, receiving a nod in return. As he and Gwen came out, Percy saw Reyna making a beeline towards them upon seeing the two.

"Percy, you're free now, right?"

"Yep, I was just going to practice for a while" he said.

"Well, like I said, I wanted to have a chat with you when you were free. If it wouldn't bother you, I can watch you train and then we'll have a chat" said the Praetor. "Gwen has to attend to her duties anyways, so you'll see her later."

"Sounds good" Percy nodded. "Cya later Gwen."

"Later Perce" she replied, starting to walk towards new Rome.

"Any particular place where you want to train?" Reyna inquired of Percy.

"A deserted part of the river would be cool" said Percy. "I need to regularly train my powers over water too."

"Okay, follow me" said Reyna, moving off. Her hair shone slightly in the bright sun, giving it a lustrous, dark red appearance.

They walked in silence until they were at the back of the river Tiber. Reyna walked a short way, following the river for a bit. Finally she came to the spot she had been looking for. She looked towards Percy. "Good enough?"

Percy looked around. He could see none of the buildings of new Rome except the coliseum which he made out faintly. There was not a living soul in sight. Perfect.

He nodded at Reyna and nodded appreciatively. "This'll do perfectly."

Reyna was somewhat curious as to his demigod powers and had wanted to witness them firsthand, which was why she had requested to come along with him while he trained. She figured he'd be able to exercise a small amount of control over water and change its shape and lift a small volume of water.

He looked at Reyna for permission to start. She nodded once, then sat back on the grass to watch him practice.

Percy nodded , then concentrated and held his hands out in front of him. For a second, nothing happened and Reyna was about to call out to Percy when her mouth fell open in amazement. The whole part of the river Tiber flowing through the secluded area had left the River bed and risen into the air.

He held it like that for a while before letting it fall. He then summoned a ball of water from the river , about the size of a beach ball. It stopped in front of him and he concentrated again. In front of her eyes, the ball of water evaporated, just like that. Next he summoned numerous streams of water before making them morph into various weapons such as a dagger and a sword.

Reyna had expected him to be able to have this particular skill. What she had not expected , however , soon came to pass when the various weapons solidified into ice. She had never seen a son of Neptune possessing that ability.

Next he made a large stream of water encircle him. It started to go in circles. It looked like a small hurricane with Percy in the midst of it controlling it's path. After holding the mini hurricane for a while he made the water encircle him and become transparent. It was a beautiful dome of water, created to protect whoever or whatever was inside.

In front of her eyes, he took out his sword and lashed out at the shield. He continued hammering it with all his power but was unable to break it. He sliced his hand and the shield shimmered once before the water dropped into the river again.

He continued training for well over an hour, his moves becoming more complicated over time. For his last move, he stepped onto the water without sinking even an inch. He then closed his eyes in concentration and willed a spout of water to come up from underneath him, propelling him upwards.

He then caused the water to curve like a slide and simultaneously turned it into ice. He slid down the makeshift slide, coming to rest a few feet away from Reyna. He straightened and then walked toward her, grinning at her expression.

Reyna was dumbfounded at Percy's power. As he executed each of his moves without fail, her eyes grew wider and her mouth dropped open. Just who was this demigod?

"You'll catch flies if you keep your mouth open any longer" he smirked, breaking her out of her trance.

A scowl replaced her previous expression. "Yeah, yeah, whatever" she grumbled. "You done with your training?"

"Yeah" answered Percy, having decided that he would not tell Reyna about Hestia and Hera just now and therefore, would not train on the powers he had inherited from them at the moment. He also decided to not reveal his bow or his daggers yet. "You wanted to talk to me" he said, tone turning serious.

"Just wanted to know your story, I'm curious" she said off-handedly, trying not to appear too desperate or pushy, so as not to make him clam up.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you" Percy said, hesitating a bit. In the end, however, he chose to trust Reyna. "Why don't we go to the garden and talk there?"

Reyna nodded, and Percy offered her his hand, pulling her up. They started walking towards the Garden and Percy started his tale. He started from the strange mysterious happenings that would take place around him as a kid.

He went on to tell her about how he got to camp half-blood and that his mother was captured by Hades. He told her all about the quest he had undertaken to rescue his mother and overtake Zeus' lightning bolt along with Grover, a satyr, and Annabeth Chase, a daughter of Athena.

He told her of his second quest, to retrieve the golden fleece from the cyclops Polyphemus in the sea of monsters. He told her that Chronos had been rising slowly, bit by bit under the care of Luke Castellan.

After finishing that he told her of his quest to save Annabeth and by extension, Artemis, where they had been captured by the titan Atlas. He had been accompanied by Bianca di Angelo, Zöe Nightshade -who were hunters of Artemis- Grover Underwood and Thalia -his cousin and the present lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis-.

By this time, the two had reached the garden of Bacchus. Both entered and Percy paused momentarily until Reyna had seated herself in the grass and he had done so as well. He then gained a faraway look in his eyes as he continued, as if he was seeing the events he was narrating in front of his eyes.

He then told her of the trials he had faced in the labyrinth and how he had managed to get out, with the help of Annabeth, Grover and his mortal friend Rachel, who had clear sight and could see through the mist that usually protected anything to do with the Greek world from mortal eyes.

Finally he got to the point where Chronos had arisen, intent on destroying Olympus. He told her of how Chronos had marched on Manhattan while the gods were busy fighting Typhon and of how the demigods had managed to ultimately defeat the armies of Chronos. He ended the story after the death of Luke and the award ceremony.

Reyna had listened in concentration, a look of wonder on her face as she hung onto his every word. To do all of what he had done and live to tell the tale was, frankly, astounding.

"Wow" she muttered under her breath. "Well, since you've told me so much about you, I think it's time you knew more about me" she said out loud.

"We're good Reyna, don't tell me until you really want to, and not just because you think you owe it to me after me telling you all about myself" Percy said seriously.

"Yes, I know that" Reyna said exasperatedly. "Thanks for being noble and all, but I'm telling you all this stuff cuz I really do want to, and cuz I trust you enough for you to know" she countered. "Only Gwen and Jason know about my past and after today, you will too" she smiled softly and Percy could see that her words were sincere beyond doubt.

Percy nodded, pleased that she trusted him. "Thanks for trusting me Reyna" he said. "I'll never break your trust if I can help it."

"I wouldn't be telling you this if I didn't know that Perce" she said, using the nickname Gwen had begun calling him by.

"Well, me and my older sister Hylla were born to the war goddess Bellona as you know and my fahter was Julian Ramírez-Arellano. We were born in San Juan, Puerto Rico." Reyna then described her father, saying that he used to be gentle and kindhearted before she was born.

"When he came back from the war in Iraq, where he was a soldier, he was never the same. He never got over the thinking about the war, and as I grew up, he changed. He saw enemies everywhere and made our house a fortress. He had become so paranoid that he had been reduced to a shade of his former self and one day he tossed a chair at Hylla, my older sister. I was so angry, I attacked him with an Imperial Gold saber." Here, her voice faltered and Percy put a comforting hand on her arm.

She nodded at him gratefully before continuing. "Imperial gold, as you know, cannot harm normal mortals. Dad, however, had mated with a goddess, and therefore due to this, he was susceptible to the saber" she said. "The saber ….. it … it vaporized him completely" tears formed in her eyes as she tried to hold herself together.

"Me and my sister went on the run. A few weeks later, Circe found us and took us to her resort and spa. She hid our memories and placed us under an enchantment that only broke when your released the pirates and wrecked havoc at the resort" she said, smiling slightly at the memory of the crazed pirates.

"The pirates destroyed the island and took revenge on Circe. Me and Hylla, being daughters of Bellona, learned to use weapons quickly and managed to escape from the island and the pirates after a short time" she narrated, a smidgen of pride in her voice.

" Eventually, though, we went our separate ways. Hylla joined the Amazons and rose through their ranks rapidly. She's their queen now" she said, a hint of sadness in her tone indicating that she missed her elder sister.

"Obviously, I came to camp. My story is the same as my sister's. I rose through the ranks, and eventually became praetor along with Jason Grace" she said. "And you know most of what happened after that. Any questions?."

"Just the one" said Percy. "Who are the Amazons?"

"Have you heard of 'Amazon', the online Internet retailer?"

"Well yeah, of course. Who hasn't?" he replied. "So they're a branch of the company or something?"

"Nope. The Amazons are the owners of the company. The amazon tribe is an all female group, all of whom are warriors, marking them as a warrior race" Reyna explained patiently. "Get it?"

Percy was dumbfounded. He'd never thought of this being a possibility, but then again, who would? He just settled for nodding somewhat stupidly, making a smirk appear on Reyna's face.

Reyna then checked her watch. "Damn it, Perce, it's been past 5 hours already!" It was only then that she truly realized how long Percy had been training without barely breaking a sweat and how long they had been talking. "We gotta get going, since we need to get your armor from John. He'll probably be finished with it by now."

"Let's get going" Percy said easily.

He gave one last look at the beautiful view of new Rome in the dying light of the sun as it set in an awe inspiring medley of orange, yellow and purple. He gave Reyna a hand up again and the two headed towards the city together, their bond strengthened due to the precious parts of themselves that they had given to the other.

He reached out with the powers given to him by Hera to detect what Reyna felt about him. He detected strong feelings of familial love and friendship there, something that pleased him to no end. He did not want a girlfriend, at least so soon after breaking up with Annabeth. He felt another pang of hurt when he thought about Annabeth, but he quelled the feeling.

However, he was happy to see what Reyna felt about him since he was starting to feel the same about her. By this time, they had reached the armory and they entered to see the burly blacksmith wiping his hands on his apron as he finished making a dual headed battle axe.

"Got your armor done a while ago, Percy" he said in his deep bass. "It's right over here" he said, leading Percy to a large table on which lay the finished suit of armor.

The suit of armor was a masterpiece. The 'Lorica Segmentata'(armor cuirass) had been masterfully made of Imperial gold, rather than the steel used for that of the other legionnaires. John had made him a cassis (helmet) as well, a red horsehair plume on the head. It was made of Imperial gold as well. He also got a leather tunic. He had refused to take a shield, since it was just not his style.

The armor itself he had no intention of using other than in war games and Roman ceremonies where it was required. Otherwise, it just hampered his fighting style, since the heavy armor lowered his speed drastically, or so Percy thought anyways.

"Looks amazing, John, thanks a bunch!"

John nodded his head indifferently. "Anytime" he rumbled.

"Why is it made of Imperial gold anyways?" Percy questioned, confused.

"Our praetor insisted that your armor should be crafted from imperial gold" he said, indicating Reyna.

At Percy's questioning look Reyna said "Well since you are the first to get through the induction trial after beating the centurions from all the cohorts, I figured you should be given something to commemorate that" she said simply. "This effectively puts you on almost the same level as the centurions since they have imperial gold armor as well."

Percy looked uncomfortable for a second. He did not want more attention on him then was necessary, but it had been a nice gesture from Reyna so he just nodded, accepting her explanation.

"Well, you two better be off" John broke in. "War game's beginning soon."

"Thanks again John" Percy said over his shoulder, as he began to exit the armory behind Reyna.

The duo was barely out of the armory when Gwen came up to them, out of breath.

"Reyna, the war games are about to start, shouldn't you be getting Scipio?"

"I was just going to do so" she said. At Percy's confused look, she elaborated. "Usually during war games, one of the two Praetors takes part in the games while the other referees. Since I am the only current Praetor, I'll be refereeing." Almost as an afterthought, she said "Oh, and Scipio is my Pegasus, the only one we have here."

Percy nodded, a look of understanding on his face.

"Catch ya later?" he asked of Reyna.

"Yep. Later. Good luck, and try to have fun out there" she said, smiling softly, the gesture passing almost unnoticed by Percy.

With a final wave to Reyna, Percy started following Gwen.

"So, how's your day been Perce?" Gwen asked cheerily.

"Quite informative actually" he replied. "I told Reyna about my life before the Legion and she did the same."

"Oh wow. She really must like you if she's willing to do that just a day after meeting you" Gwen said, a surprised expression on her face. "Like, she's only told two people about her past and that was after getting to know them".

"Yep, you and Jason Grace, was it?" he questioned, receiving a nod in return. "Where are we headed now?" was Percy's next question as they walked along.

"The war games are about to begin and we need to work out a strategy, so we're gonna meet the other centurions to work out a battle strategy" she explained.

As she spoke, two figures walked past. It was Michael Kahalle and Larry, the centurion of the second cohort. Both were wearing vindictive glares as they passed Percy. Percy noticed with no small satisfaction that both seemed to be limping slightly and Michael had bandages strapped to his chest and his midsection.

"We'll get you tonight Jackson" Michael muttered as he passed by.

Percy just shrugged, not at all bothered by the petty attitude of Michael.

They continued walking until they reached a small, cabin-like structure build of wood. They entered to find the rest of the centurions already there. Dakota was there, with no Kool-Aid in his hand for a change. Samantha was conversing with a tall, muscled guy about a year older than Percy. Hank looked up at the two when they came in and shot a glare at Percy which he steadfastly ignored. The black haired, stocky junior centurion with him just looked indifferently at Percy.

"Okay, centurions, gather around!" Gwen called, breaking up the general discussions going on in the cabin.

The centurions obediently gathered around a table in the center of the room which had a detailed map of new Rome laid upon it.

"Okay guys, listen up" Gwen said. "So, we've found out that as per usual it'll be the 5th, 4th, and 3rd against the 1st and the 2nd. The first two cohorts will be defending the castle while we have to break in to capture the flags."

"Any suggestions on how we get in?" she asked.

Dakota nodded slowly. "We could divide our forces into 4 groups. Two, built up of the legionnaires of the war gods and goddesses to get to the gates, blocking the arrows and whatnot. One of the groups could take Hannibal ("Our war elephant that we use for sieges", Gwen muttered to Percy out of the corner of her mouth) and break the gate down. Once this is down the Mars campers could rush in to handle the fighting and the last group of soldiers, made up of the fastest legionnaires we have could rush in to find the flags and get them out."

"That's not a bad plan" Samantha spoke up.

"It isn't, but it does have some flaws" Gwen said, brow furrowed in concentration. "You may have forgotten that the fort is equipped with water cannons. They're not fatal but will stun and take down everything we can throw at them. The first two groups that we send in won't be able to bear the brunt of those attacks even though they would be composed of our strongest fighters" she pointed out.

Samantha's forehead creased in thought as she thought about how to get over this hurdle.

"Our only problems are the water cannons?" Percy asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over the room.

"Just about" Gwen said.

"Erm, unless you've failed to notice, I'm a son of Neptune" Percy smirked mischievously.

Gwen slapped her forehead. "Of course!" she said ruefully scratching the back of her neck.

"I've got another strategy if you guys wanna hear it" Percy said.

At Gwen's nod, Percy began outlining his battle plan. "I'll take a small group of fighters from the back. There's the river behind the fort, so they won't be expecting an attack from there. I can lift my fighters over the wall using my powers and they can attack the other two cohorts from the inside. This'll give the fighters outside the wall a chance to get in, unmolested for the large part."

The centurions nodded as one, accepting the tactical advantage of the plan.

"Once my guys are in and fighting, I'll take two of them with me to search for the flags" Percy finished.

"Are you really naïve enough to believe that you can get through their soldiers with only two men besides you?" Hank asked, a caustic tinge to his voice. "And how do you plan on getting your troops to the other side of the wall?"

"That's my problem, centurion" Percy said. His tone, previously friendly and open had now changed entirely. "You handle your cohort and let me do as I wish with mine."

Hank grumbled in a low voice but did not dare object too loudly since the other centurions in the room were all glaring at him. Even the other centurion of the third did not seem to be supporting Hank.

"Sounds like a plan" Dakota drawled, causing the others to nod.

Gwen threw a pleased smile at Percy. She hoped he would be the one to remove the hateful and skeptical attitude that the first two cohorts along with a part of the third threw at the fourth and the fifth cohorts.

"Okay guys, get to the field of Mars. Reyna is there now and the cohorts are ready hopefully" said Samantha.

The centurions filed out of the cabin and went up to take charge of their cohorts who were currently milling around in the field of Mars. Samantha, Gwen and Percy walked together, exchanging small talk.

Once all the centurions were present, Reyna flew out of the skies on a brown -coated Pegasus. Percy was standing to Gwen's right in the line of centurions. All the cohorts were assembled together, waiting for Reyna to tell them to take their places and get ready.

As she landed Percy saw that the Pegasus had coal black eyes. Percy noticed an aura around him and tried his best to contain his surprise. This was an actual son of the original Pegasus, the son of Poseidon.

"What's your name?" Percy asked the Pegasus, making it give a snort of surprise.

"You can talk to horses? You must be a son of Neptune" the Pegasus said excitedly. "My name is Scipio, Lord."

"No need for the niceties, just call me Percy."

Percy then looked around and saw that the assembled cohorts were looking on in surprise. Reyna too, looked surprised, although she hid it well behind a mask of indifference. Octavian, Percy noticed, was looking at him suspiciously from his place besides Michael, who had a look of contempt on his face.

Reyna shook off her surprise and turned to the assembled cohorts. "The rules of tonight's war games have been explained" she yelled loudly, causing the soldiers to begin banging their swords on their shields, impatient for the games to begin. "The first and second cohorts will be defending. Centurions, get the defending cohorts into the fort!"

At this, the first and the second cohorts broke off and, led by their centurions, marched into the fort in orderly lines. The gates closed behind the two cohorts once they were in.

"Third, fourth and fifth cohorts, begin!" boomed Reyna.

Quickly and efficiently, the centurions divided up their cohorts until they had the four groups they had decided on using.

Gwen then came over to Percy. "Perce, how many soldiers do you need?"

"14 should be enough, excluding me" Percy replied.

"Anyone in particular that you want?" Gwen questioned.

Percy nodded, after thinking for a few seconds. "Give me Frank and Hazel if you can spare them. The other 12 legionnaires should be from the 4th and 5th cohorts. Give me a couple archers as well" said Percy.

"Frank, Hazel!" Gwen shouted, and the two demigods came over immediately. Both gave Percy a friendly nod before turning to Gwen.

"We explained the strategy to you just a while back. As you know, Percy will be leading a small force from behind the fortress, over the river. He has requested for the two of you to be in his group" Gwen explained.

Frank and Hazel nodded in understanding, then went to stand behind Percy. Gwen called Samantha and together, the two picked out twelve legionnaires, six people each from the fourth and fifth cohorts. The chosen soldiers were introduced to Percy and he explained their respective jobs to them, to clear up any confusion that the soldiers might have. He chose Frank and Hazel to accompany him to find the flags after breaching the fort.

The three cohorts were already assembled, standing in the groups decided on beforehand by the centurions. Reyna took to the skies astride Scipio, seeing that the three cohorts were ready. She flew over to the fortress and saw that the first two cohorts were ready as well.

She raised a conch horn to her lips and blew a short, piercing note, signaling the start of the game.

The two groups who were to attack the fortress first and provide a distraction for Percy and his small force marched forwards. These two were led by Dakota and Samantha. All of them were heavily armored and both were marching in the traditional tortoise formation, shields locked.

The three other groups held their positions. Percy was standing twenty yards in front of the assembled groups. His eyes were glowing a brilliant sea green as he focused his power, waiting for the Romans in the fortress to attempt to fire the water cannons so that he could incapacitate them.

The Romans on the parapets of the fort watched gleefully as the two groups advanced, intent on completely obliterating the dual tortoise formations with the high powered water cannons. Octavian and Larry were standing on one of parapets of the fort, gazing out.

"Ready the cannons!" called Larry, and the order was quickly replayed to the gunners. Octavian stood beside him silently. He knew that Larry was much more experienced than him at commanding the legionnaires, so he let him get on with it.

The groups led by Dakota and Samantha came into range of the water cannons and Larry smirked, thinking that the game was over almost before it began.

"Fire!" he ordered. The gunners stationed at the cannons pulled their respective triggers and Larry readied himself to hear the panicked cries of the attacking Romans, but they never came. What he heard instead were confused outcries from the gunners.

A legionnaire ran up to Larry at that moment. "Sir, all the gunnery sergeants are reporting that their weapons are not firing. They seem to be disabled" he said, panting.

"How?" yelled the enraged son of Minerva. He had been hoping that he would get to use the cannons as his main defense, as they would have been able to hold any opponents back for hours on end. Water running out was not a problem since the cannons were fed directly by the river.

Octavian's eyes widened in sudden realization as he worked out what had happened. "The son of Neptune" he muttered.

Now Larry's eyes reflected a glimmer of understanding. "He's controlling the water, not allowing it to shoot out of the cannons. It would be futile to try and get them to work."

"Tell the gunnery sergeants and their men to fall into line with the others, there's no use manning the cannons now," he barked to the legionnaire.

Said legionnaire scurried of quickly to relay the orders to the gunnery sergeants.

From his place on the field of Mars, Percy smirked, satisfied with the cries of outrage and confusion he could hear from the fort.

"Great job Perce" Gwen called. "Now get your soldiers and get going."

Percy nodded once. "Let's go guys" he called out to his fighters.

The soldiers sprinted towards the river running to the outskirts of the field, trying to be as silent and inconspicuous as possible, led by Percy. They made it past the area where the groups commanded by Dakota and Samantha were moving up to the fort to begin attacking it, their tortoise formation holding strong now that the water cannons were out of commission. Arrows were being shot from the fortress but the formation was deflecting most of the arrows successfully.

The fort had a moat shaped like a crescent which joined the river Tiber which flowed at the back of the fort. It was about 15 ft across, too long of a distance to jump through and swimming was impossible for two reasons. Firstly, the walls of the fort were built right at the edge of the water and there were no footholds or handholds where they could pull themselves up. Secondly, anyone swimming would make a loud splashing noise and in the water, they would be sitting ducks for the Roman archers.

The fort was thought to be impenetrable from this angle and Larry had not posted any soldiers here, wanting to put all his manpower to the areas which he thought were the weakest.

Percy stepped onto the water and willed himself to stay on the surface. He motioned to his soldiers. "Come on guys, the water will hold you up, trust me."

Frank and Hazel stepped onto the water at once, not questioning Percy's orders, trusting him explicitly. Some of the others were hesitant but after seeing the two legionnaires standing on the water unharmed and not sinking, they stepped on too.

Percy willed the water to move them onto the parapet of the fort. Geysers of water shot up at the areas where all the fighters were standing, propelling them upwards. Percy tucked into a roll as he landed, making minimal noise and lessening the impact on their body. The others were not so successful at staying unnoticed as they made a bit of a crash as they landed. They managed to land on their feet, however.

The crash, however, had alerted two of the Romans who approached the back of the fort warily, looking for the cause of the disturbance.

Quick as a flash, Percy leapt forwards and less than 3 seconds later, both sentries were down. One would be having quite a headache -Percy had conked him on his head with the hilt of his sword- when he came to, and the other would be sporting an ugly bruise on the left side of his head, courtesy of a quick left hay-maker punch from Percy.

Both had gone down without a sound. Having dragged the soldiers to a corner of the fort, Percy came back to check on his small squad. Hazel, Frank and another legionnaire whose name Percy could not recall were looking at him in awe, dumbfounded by the speed with which he had taken down the sentries.

Percy grinned at the looks on their faces before doing a quick headcount, making sure that all of them had made it over the wall. Having ascertained that everyone was present, he ordered them to move forwards.

The group advanced swiftly, taking down all the sentries it came upon efficiently. They made it to the main fort's parapet. There was a stairway running down a scant few feet from where they currently were. At the bottom of the stairway, many legionnaires were assembled, ready to take on the invaders.

Percy spoke softly to his small group. "Okay, we're going to split up here. I'm going to go in search of the flags with Frank and Hazel. "Harry, you take charge."

Harry, a short, muscular legionnaire nodded that he understood.

"All melee fighters attack their defensive line from behind," Percy ordered. Then he turned to the four archers in his squad. "You guys stay here, try to distract and take down their soldiers who are standing on the parapets. That'll give the troops outside a chance to get in without being shot at" he said. "I'll give you a small distraction to get you started" he said mischievously.

He stepped forwards and closed his eyes before opening them to reveal that his eyes were glowing again. He stamped his foot onto the floor and a small earthquake shook the fort, making the soldiers lose their footing. Percy's group was unharmed, though. With battle cries, the swordsmen rushed forwards to take advantage of the distraction.

Percy, Hazel and Frank walked towards a door that led to the inside of the fort.

Behind them, Percy heard yells of shock and surprise, for the second time that night and smirked. It seemed that the distraction was working.

Larry and Octavian looked at their defensive line being attacked from behind. Somehow, the enemy had managed to enter the fort unnoticed and were now wrecking havoc upon their lines, the element of surprise on their side. Their archers who had been stationed on the parapets were also distracted, fighting against an unknown number of enemy archers. Larry growled, angry at being outwitted and raced down from his position to command his troops.

Octavian vanished through a door to notify Michael and the remainder of their men who were indoors that the enemies would soon be upon them. Suddenly, an earth shattering boom shook the gates of the fort, making the strong wood creak dangerously.

The centurions outside the fort had heard the surprised legionnaires and heard the sounds of a heated battle commenting inside the fort. Gwen smirked in satisfaction at hearing the outraged yells.

She called out to the troops under her command. Her group consisted of lightly armored fighters, most of whom preferred mobility over brute force and iron defenses. Her group was also in charge of Hannibal, the Legion's war elephant. It was decided that Hannibal would be led forwards to break down the door once the defenders were distracted by Percy's team.

Gwen called out to her troops at once, not wanting to waste any time. "Alright, troops! Forward!" she yelled loudly. The troops under her command marched forwards at once, and Hannibal's handlers went to work, leading the elephant forwards. Hannibal trumpeted loudly and lurched forwards obediently.

The two groups who were in their tortoise formation broke formation and stepped aside smartly to allow Gwen's group to pass. They cheered when Hannibal hit the gates and they creaked.

The two groups merged into that of Gwen's seamlessly, to become part of the attacking force. The fourth group started marching forwards. They would be stationed outside the fort, to act as reinforcements where needed.

"Almost down" Gwen muttered, mostly to herself. Samantha who was standing to her right, ready to command her troops forwards heard her, however, and nodded in agreement.

"We can do this" she muttered encouragingly to Gwen.

In truth, both were feeling the pressure. The 4th and 5th had never won any of the war games and now was their chance. Both were apprehensive about messing up and suffering defeat. This, however was the best chance they had ever had at victory and they were determined to take it without messing up.

They mentally steeled themselves and waited for Hannibal to take down the gate.

Inside the fort, Percy, Hazel and Frank were getting closer to the center of the fort. The three had determined that the flags would probably be hidden as well as they could be and that meant two things. Either the large room circular room slap bang in the middle of the fort which would normally be used as a command center but was large enough to hold a good number of troops and had only one entrance.

The other potential hiding place was in the dungeons, located in the deepest part of the fort. They decided, however, that the command center in the middle of the fort was the best bet due to the fact that the area in which the dungeons were located was extremely narrow and it would hamper the movements of the defenders and would not allow an adequate number of them inside in the first place.

The three then unanimously decided to make for the 'command center' in the middle of the fort. They quickly made their way through the corridors, dispatching any soldiers they came upon. As they got closer to the middle of the fort, the number of defending soldiers began to increase, confirming Percy's suspicion that the flags were being kept in the command room.

They continued on, fighting their way through the soldiers until they reached a plain wooden door, studded with steel in places. There was no lock on the door however, so the three found it easy to storm into the room.

Inside the circular room, 10 of the 1st cohort's best legionnaires were standing in front of the two flags defensively. At the head of the soldiers were Michael Kahalle and Octavian.

"Jackson" Michael spat in distaste. "I can't wait to beat you to a pulp."

Percy did not reply, instead, he settled for narrowing his eyes slightly and holding his sword in a battle ready stance. Hazel, on Percy's right, had raised her spatha and Frank, on his left, had done the same with his pilum.

Percy rushed forwards, his two companions following less than a second later. He reached Michael first and this time, there was no playing around. Percy knew that he needed to secure the flags and needed to do it quickly to secure victory for his cohort.

His sword lashed out in a series of dizzyingly fast blows. Michael actually managed to block the first couple of blistering blows. Percy's fourth strike, however, hit his Michael's sword hard and at an angle, knocking it out of his hand and barely a second later, the hilt of Percy's sword hit his helmeted head, making a loud clang and causing Michael to see stars.

He dropped like a stone, unconscious for the second time in as many days. Percy, without wasting a second, lunged forwards and engaged four adversaries at once. He whirled and stabbed like a demon, keeping all of them, at bay. He suddenly lashed out at one of them whose guard was not up and as the legionnaire brought his sword up to deflect Percy's strike, Percy hooked a leg behind the soldier's and pulled back his own leg, tripping him up before sending him to the realm of the unconscious with a lighting fast left jab to his carotid artery.

He defeated two more of his adversaries at the same blistering speed, before turning and blocking a blow meant meant for Hazel, who nodded at him in thanks before stabbing at the offending soldier with her spatha, making a long scratch on the armor along his forearm, before bashing him in the face with her hilt.

Ouch, Percy winced mentally. That had to hurt. He saw Frank getting cornered and attempted to fight his way over to him. Three of the remaining six soldiers attacked him, keeping him away from Frank. They managed to subdue Frank and turned to wade into the fight again.

Percy, knowing that Hazel would go down soon as well if he didn't do something, decided to use his demigod powers and took control of the water molecules in the air, and willing them to swirl around him. They did so at extremely high speeds, creating a wall of water between him and his adversaries. From the middle of this whirlwind, Percy stabbed and slashed at his enemies quickly, knowing that even he couldn't keep such a powerful water tornado up forever.

He took down his enemies as fast as he could, taking care to not wound anyone fatally. He would not be hampered like this in a real fight, but in mock fights such as this, he took care not to deal out lasting injuries.

Finally he let the whirling mass of water dissipate. The whirling mass of water vanished. There were now only two enemies standing. They were locked in combat with Hazel and Percy decided he would let her finish the fight, confident in her ability to do so.

Sure enough both men crashed to the ground just a few moments later.

"Great job Hazel" Percy commented from the back of the room, leaning on the wall.

"Thanks" Hazel said bashfully.

Percy then did a quick headcount, wanting to make sure that they had taken down all of the guards. He finished his count at 11.

"Where's Octavian?" he asked aloud, noticing that the augur was no longer in the room.

Hazel too, looked around the room and came up empty. She shrugged her shoulders. "He might've escaped once the fight started getting hotter in here."

"Let's check on Frank" Percy suggested, moving over to where the legionnaire lay, out cold.

Frank had an ugly bruise on his head, probably from a shield bashed into his head. Percy could have healed Frank in a matter of seconds, but he did not want to inform anyone of his affiliation with Hera and Hestia, or as the Romans knew them, Juno and Vesta.

He settled for shooting a low powered stream of water onto Frank's face. Frank sputtered as he woke up and glared reproachfully at Percy.

"You couldn't have just shaken me awake?" Frank questioned, a fake frown on his face.

"Now where would be the fun in that?" Percy asked, making Hazel giggle in mirth.

"Whatever" said Frank, although he was smiling as well. "Let's get going. We need to get the flags out of here."

Percy's previously mirthfull smile vanished, and his whole face turned serious. He mentally berated himself for losing concentration like that. He hefted the first cohort's flag on his shoulder and motioned for Frank to do the same with the other one.

With Hazel acting as rear guard, in case someone attacked them from behind, the trio swiftly made their way back up the same passages that they had come down while finding the flags.

Finally they made it to the top and from a parapet near them, were free to look down on the events unfolding underneath. Their attacking force was pushing the defenders back, Percy noticed, smirking. His plan had gone off without a hitch.

He, however, couldn't resist showing off a bit. He jumped 10 ft. or so, landing on the level that the two factions were fighting on. As he landed, he used his 'son of Neptune' powers, unleashing a localized earthquake of considerable power, with the effect of most of the legionnaires falling and causing some to stumble unsteadily.

In the skies, Reyna, astride Scipio, saw the two luminous flags now carried by Frank and Hazel. She blew a long note on her horn, signaling the end of the war games.

The legionnaires belonging to the attacking team cheered loudly, knowing that they had won. For the first time in the history of camp Jupiter, the third, fourth and fifth had emerged victorious over the first and the second cohorts, no small feat.

The soldiers all exited the fort and stood around on the field of Mars. Percy was among them, searching for Gwen. He saw Samantha, eyes alight with jubilance, and Dakota, sipping from a bottle of Kool-Aid enthusiastically.

Suddenly an outcry went up from an area near the fort. The legionnaires there were gathered in a semicircle, looking at something. Percy rushed to the scene and almost lost control of his emotions.

Right in front of him, lying on the ground, was Gwen, a pilum lodged in her chest. As he rushed to he side, Percy saw that there was only one person who was missing his pilum, and Percy almost stormed over to him to beat him to a bloody pulp, before reminding himself that there would be time enough for confrontation later.

Gwen was breathing, although almost unnoticeably, and Percy knew that unless he did something quickly, namely, using his powers, Gwen would die. He was still cautious about revealing his affiliation with the two Olympian goddesses. He looked around and noticed Reyna had just dismounted Scipio and had come running over to stand by his side.

He called out to Scipio. "Scipio, stand between me and these Romans, I'd rather that they didn't see what I'm going to do."

"Right away, boss," said Scipio.

"Someone, give me a bottle of nectar," Percy yelled, so that the Romans would not think that anything was out of order. Someone passed him a bottle before stepping back.

With Scipio blocking the Romans' view from one side, Percy knelt near Gwen. Reyna was still beside him, looking at her centurion and best female friend, concern shining in her eyes. Percy decided that if anyone should know about his secret it should be Reyna since he trusted her explicitly, even though he'd known her for a matter of days.

That was why he paid her no mind as he discarded the bottle of nectar and instead, placed a hand on Gwen's head sending bolts of orange light into her. He took out the spear carefully and thanked the gods as he saw that it had not come into contact with her heart.

Reyna looked in in undisguised awe, never having seen something of the like. Who was this enigma of a demigod?

Percy continued sending pulses of warm, orange light into Gwen until the wound from the centurion's had disappeared completely, leaving behind only a small hole in her armor and shirt. Having finished, Percy slumped back in exhaustion. The major healing had taken a lot out of him, and he had never had to use his healing powers like this before.

He took a sip of nectar tiredly, feeling energy flow back into his bloodstream.

Reyna broke the silence. "That was…. That…. Wow" she trailed off.

"I'll explain later, when she's awake" Percy said, gesturing to Gwen. "You guys deserve a complete explanation and I don't want to keep repeating the story to all of you separately" Percy said, meaning Reyna and Gwen, as well as Frank and Hazel, whom he had grown to like very quickly.

Reyna gave him a simple nod, accepting what he said.

Percy then turned towards Scipio who had been blocking the crowds view all this time. "Thanks Scipio, you did an awesome job" he praised. "I'll bring you some sugar cubes as soon as I can" he promised, knowing that pegasi loved sugary treats.

Scipio neighed in delight. "Anytime boss! Call me for help whenever. I'm available, most of the time."

"Kay, sure" Percy replied. "You can move now."

As Scipio moved out of the way, the Romans were revealed, standing in confusion and suspense.

"She'll be fine" Percy said, for the benefit of the Romans, eliciting them to let up a cheer of relief. Percy did, however, notice, many of them giving him curious and in some cases, suspicious, looks. "We need to get her to the Infirmary, though, for a day or so at least."

Two medics were about to rush to the downed centurion with a stretcher when Gwen started stirring. She moved slightly a few times before her eyes opened completely and she took in her surroundings.

She turned to see Percy and Reyna looking at her worriedly, as well as two medics coming towards her with a stretcher.

"What…"

AN: There we go, guys, another chapter done. Woohoo! Anyways, a couple of you are a bit impatient for the pertemis bit to begin… let me assure you that it will in fact, happen. I'm taking this slowly, though, so it might be a couple chapters or so before he meets Artemis and all. Stay with me guys, cmon.

On another note, this chapter was 13500 words long. My longest chapter yet. My next ones are probably not gonna be this long, but, who knows? Anyways, I've rambled on for long enough, so rate, review and all that stuff…. Seriously though, review. Id love to Implement some of the ideas you guys give me in my story…..Cheers!

HOA11, signing off.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: first of all, I'd like to thank you peeps so much for getting this story to 4.5k view. Feels amazing that so many people have given me a chance follows are now over a hundred with almost as many favorites! Hope you guys continue to enjoy my story to the very end!

Now, time to reply to some reviews… skip to the chapter if you guys aren't interested in reading my replies to reviews…

 _ **SilentSniper05: Nice, I can see you were attempting to make the changes, it made it a completely different story. I really enjoyed the interactions and the strategy to capture the fort, something new for sure. Huge chapter which is always cool. Missed correcting a few places but the majority is good which is nice. I'll cya soon, definitely gonna follow along now**_

 **Thanks so much for much for your review! I know I say this often but ya made ma day ! Such positive reviews always encourage me to do ma very best. Hope to see you soon ! *hugs***

 _ **Lyequid : I like the story, however STOP LEAVING IT IN THE MIDDLE OF ACTION SCENES. It's great though, and you probably should hurry up with Artemis or its gonna end up being Gwen/percy**_

 **Don't you worry about that ! It'll be an Artemis story fo sho… this chapter will prove that it ain't a Gwen/Percy…. I won't let up on the amount of cliffhangers. .. I'm evil, ik, ik. Happy reading !**

 _ **Dragonborn053 :Great chapter. Loved the war game bit. When will Artemis come in? Can't wait till the next chapter.**_

 **Thanks ! Glad ya liked it ! Artemis will come in two chapters from now… this is your fourth review for my fourth chap …. You're really consistent with those and I love that…. See ya soon!**

 _ **TheYoLOMan :Good work. Your content is very interesting, well done, and polished...for the most part. I'm happy you choose to go with the Roman arc, and made Perseus half Roman. The Romans were always more interesting, especially in Riordans world, but I was surprised at Percys lack of "Roman" qualities. The Romans are a militaristic people, and so are their descendants. I would expect Percy to be much more reserved in just telling those he barely knows about his entire life story and such. I get they are his "friends", and he trusts them, but you don't just make friends in a day. Especially in Rome. I was also expecting him to be a little more Roman in his interactions with everyone, friends included. Hope his meeting with Octavion goes well next chapter, Percy doesn't hold back against those who cross him or anyone he cares for. I also don't think there is anything wrong with Percys powers and he's definelty not OP. The blessings he received were perfect, and I fully expect him to continue developing his skills and powers, despite his already high status. It is in the nature of man, to improve. They once said that mortals were special because of our willpower, mortality, and goal to leave an everlasting Mark on the world due to our limited time. Humanities willpower impacts even immortals, and It gives us power over them. As such, it is not far fetched for a child of the Big Three, with training and blessings, to be able to stand against an immortal. They have the best of both worlds. Perhaps a child of Apollo or Athena won't be able to stand toe to toe with a immortal, but a child of the Big Three can. Especially one with Perseus's powers and capabilities. Don't let people bring you down with his power talk. It's not true. I don't think he should just steamroll higher powers such as Titans and the Gods. I don't think it would be an easy fight either it would be long and draining, but he's no pushover either. Good work, looking forward to what comes next. Peace**_

 **Thanks so much for the detailed review ! Really helped a lot… I'll answer some of your queries here…. Well, about the discipline because of being half Roman thing.. Percy had been among Greeks his whole life and lives his life somewhat like that, although you will notice that he is somewhat more reserved than some others…. The friendship thing … he's in a new place, somewhat friendless, lonely and in need of companionship… about Percy's powers… that was exactly my line of thinking ! I'm glad at least someone understood my reasoning… thanks ! Enjoy the next chapter!**

 _ **DISCLAIMER: All rights to the Percy Jackson universe are reserved by Rick Riordan. I do this for fun and do not gain any monetary benefits from this.**_

 **Okay guys! Without further ado, chapter 5!**

Chapter 5:

Gwen turned to see Percy and Reyna looking at her worriedly, as well as two medics coming towards her with a stretcher.

"What happened?" she questioned. "There was this…" Suddenly her speech faltered and her eyes gained a glint of recognition.

"Do you remember what happened?" Percy questioned.

Gwen nodded slowly. "I felt this sort of searing pain in my chest and I suddenly caught glimpses of Charon's lobby. I was about to explore the place further even though I was in pain" she narrated. "Suddenly warm pulses of orange shot into me repeatedly. They took the pain away and my vision started to get clearer. Next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground here."

She suddenly turned to Percy, looking at him suspiciously. "Perce, did you have something to do with this?"

Percy nodded his head before saying. "I'll explain tomorrow. You need to spend the night in the medical wing, you've just undergone a major healing process."

"Percy, cmon!" she exclaimed hotly. "I'm just fine." To emphasize her point, she got to her feet, albeit somewhat unsteadily, and crossed her arms, looking at Percy defiantly.

"Well, if you really feel up to it," Percy relented. After seeing that Gwen was indeed alright, the legionnaires began to trickle off the field of Mars.

Percy, Gwen and Reyna exited the field together. As they walked, Percy turned to Gwen.

"Gwen, you sure you're up to this? You've had a pretty taxing day after all" Percy said, looking at her with concern clearly visible in his eyes.

"For the last time, I'm fine, Percy" she yelled exasperatedly. "I'm really happy that you care and all, but I'm perfectly fine!" Her outcry caused a few curious looks from the legionnaires within earshot.

Reyna however, fondly smiled at their sibling-like interaction with each other. She grinned again when she heard them bickering about something or other, just like brother and sister. The bond between those two was extremely strong. It was close, familial bonds that strengthened the entire legion and this bond was a prime example of that.

She broke out of her reverie, just in time to see Percy call out to Frank and Hazel and beckon them over. The two came over to join them. They asked Gwen if she was alright, and after receiving an 'affirmative', they turned to Percy.

"I just thought I sorta owed it to you guys to tell you my whole past" he shrugged. "I can't just tell you guys all that stuff in public, though. Let's go to the garden of Bacchus, where we won't be overheard and we'll talk there."

He led them to the garden and held the gate open for them when they reached it. All of them seated themselves on the ground and he leaned against the fence. He suddenly got a faraway look in his eyes as he started.

"It all began when..."

 **Time skip: (three weeks)**

The first shafts of sunlight washed over camp Jupiter and penetrated the windows of the barracks. As always, Percy awoke as soon as the fist ray of sunshine hit him. He showered, and then came back to his bed, and picked up his duffel bag.

He took out his mother's photo and held it in his hand as his mind drifted. The past three weeks had been eventful, to say the least. A faraway look came into his eyes as he recalled the past couple of weeks.

He had told his four friends about his life, starting from the beginning so that Frank and Hazel could keep up. He told them what had happened after the award ceremony. How he had toiled so hard to prove himself to Athena so that he could court her daughter.

The four found it hard to keep looks of admiration, awe and fear off of their faces when he told them of his fight with Ladon. He told them of how he had come back victorious only for Annabeth to dump him. At this point, Frank had a sad look on his face. Hazel too, was morose, but it was Reyna and Gwen that surprised Percy the most. Both had gone pale with suppressed anger, their fury apparent on their stormy faces. Percy could also see a small glimmer of sadness in their eyes, directed towards him. A wave of happiness passed through him as he noticed the looks his friends were giving him. It was a silent show of support and it was all he had needed to continue.

He then told him of how Hestia and Hera had come to take him to camp Jupiter, only, he called them Juno and Vesta so that the Romans could follow his narration easily. They failed to contain looks of surprise when he told them of how Juno had apologized to him. Her reputation for hating demigods was largely known and the fact that she had apologized to Percy amazed them.

He told them of how he had gone to visit his mother and stepfather one last time, only to find their residence being attacked by monsters. He continued, telling them of his mother's death. Upon hearing about the death of Percy's mother, all four had morose expressions on their faces, Hazel and Gwen being close to tears, while the usually stoic Reyna was finding it hard to keep her composure as well. When he got to where the two goddesses had blessed him, all four cried out in various exclamations of shock and awe. He explained his powers to them and for effect, shot a small stream of fire from one of his hand to the other, and then made his eyes burst into flames.

"So cool" Frank had muttered wistfully.

Percy grinned at his jealous expression and broke into raucous peels of laughter as he saw that all three of the girls' mouths had fallen open into a comical looking 'o'.

He had then told him of how he had been trained extensively by Lupa and then sent here. The quartet of listeners had hung onto all of his words, entranced by his story.

After he finished, Gwen had gotten up and had given him a tight hug, of heartfelt emotion. "Th.. T…Thanks Perce" she stuttered. "I don't think I would've lived if you weren't there."

Percy waved off her thanks, although he returned her hug in kind, glad that she was safe. "Hey, we're friends, that's what we do" he said lightly.

Percy had learnt a few things about his friends as well. He now knew all about Hazel. She had trusted him enough to tell him her past about a week after Percy shared his own with her.

She told him that that she had been born to Marie Levesque and the god Pluto in New Orleans, Louisiana. Marie had summoned Pluto using a spell that Hecate had found, and they fell in love. When Pluto granted Marie one wish, Marie wished for all the riches of the earth from Pluto, despite his warning that the greediest wishes cause the greatest sorrows. She did this mainly because she was tired of being poor and wanted a new life for herself and her daughter. Her mother's ambition to become wealthy later caused her grief, as Marie began to use Hazel's unique powers (a result of her wish) for selfish reasons. The jewels that Hazel collected were cursed and would cause the buyers to suffer.

Hazel did not have many friends during her childhood with the exception of Sammy Valdez, whom she loved and had shared a kiss with just once but after moving to Alaska, where the gods had no power since it was too far from their seats of power, she never saw him again. Her mother became unstable because she was being influenced by Gaea and when Pluto came to protect them, he'd realized he'd lost her forever. Marie moved them to Seward, Alaska, beyond the power of the gods, despite the many protests by Pluto.

It was there that Hazel was forced by Gaea to raise her oldest Gigantes son, Alcyoneus by calling forth precious metals that were beneath the earth on a phantom island. Once Hazel had almost finished the job, she discovered that Gaea also needed a human sacrifice in order for her son to rise up and her mother offered to be the sacrifice to save Hazel as Gaea promised her Hazel would not be harmed if she sacrificed herself. Once Hazel discovered the treachery, she called up all the riches below her, causing an eruption that broke the cavern walls and ultimately destroyed the island. Hazel and her mother both died in 1942, but delayed the rise of the Gigantes for some time.

The judges of the Underworld had an argument over where to put Hazel and Marie. They decided that Hazel and her mother would go to the Fields of Asphodel after Hazel gave up her chance to go to Elysium in order to save her mother from the Fields of Punishment. Then, nearly seventy years later, Nico di Angelo, a son of Hades and thus her half-brother, found her there, and, seeing that she was a child of Pluto, he brought her back to the world of the living due to the Doors of Death being open. Initially, he had been there to rescue his other sister, Bianca di Angelo, but he was too late as she had tried for rebirth.

After hearing her story, Percy vowed to do all he could to remove the curse from her. He earned a soft smile from Hazel for that one. Frank too, had chosen to trust Percy with his past. 

Frank had been born to Mars and a mortal military soldier, Emily Zhang. From his mothers side, he was a descendant of Periclymenus, who was a grandson of Poseidon and a member of the Argonauts, hence making him a legacy of Poseidon. His whole family was blessed by the god with the power to shift into any kind of animal, mythical or living from human form. In the absence of his immortal father, Frank's grandmother helped to raise him after his mother died in a military accident in Afghanistan a while before her son turned 16 and went to Camp Jupiter.

Frank combined his ancestral gift with the powers that he inherited from his divine parent. As such, he was considered to be dangerously powerful and a potential threat, and it was decreed that he would have a short life. At the night of his birth, Juno appeared to his family and pointed out a piece of timber in the hearth, warning that if it was burned entirely he would die.

His grandmother had given him the piece of firewood when she knew that he would soon be leaving to go to Camp Jupiter. Lupa and her wolf pack arrived at the Zhang Mansion, and he went through the usual process of proving his strength at the Wolf House. When Frank arrived at Camp, his grandmother instructed him to go to the Praetor and tell her that his great-grandfather was Shen Lun, who had caused the huge earthquake that had led to the Romans not being fond of Poseidon, and to beg forgiveness for what Shen Lun did though she refused to tell him what he did at the time.

When Frank arrived at camp, he had gone to Reyna -Jason had been on a quest at the time- and told her everything. She had surprised him pleasantly by declaring that she judged people by their own merit, and an ancestor from a bygone age would not lead to her judging him harshly. She had cautioned him to not speak of this to the other legionnaires as they would not have been so understanding. The account had raised Percy's opinion of Reyna even more.

The same as with Hazel, Percy swore to do all he could to remove Frank's curse from him. Frank had given him a grateful look.

Percy mind then turned to something else. In the three weeks that he had been here, Hestia and Hera had visited him twice, to see how he was settling in. The first time it had been Hestia, and upon seeing him, she had hugged him to her briefly. She had expressed her pride at his actions and choices and wished him luck, before promising that she would always be there for him.

Hera had visited a week or so after that. She too, was extremely proud of Percy and had confessed that if she ever had a son, she would want him to be just like Percy. Percy had blushed furiously at the praise and they had talked for a while. Percy had also discovered another power he had apparently been given that Hera had missed while telling him of the powers he had received from her when she blessed him.

Strangely, if he tried, Percy could now see what someone had on their mind at any given moment. He however, thought of this as an intrusion of peoples' privacy and had sworn not to do it unless he was using it on an enemy. Hera had been surprised, and very proud to say the least.

His mind then turned to a rather pressing problem. Ever since the night he had healed Gwen, he had been on the receiving end of a lot of strange looks. Some people, such as Octavian and Michael had even glared at him outright. Percy had found this slightly disturbing but ignored it nonetheless.

As he pondered over this, he came to the conclusion that someone, namely, Octavian had been pushing the metaphorical buttons of the Romans, riling them up and turning them against him.

With a start, Percy realized that he had done nothing about Octavian. He had seen the augur standing not far away from Gwen, a smug smile on his face and missing a spear. The spear had had the first cohort's insignia on it, fueling Percy's suspicion.

He jumped out of bed and headed towards the door. He'd made up his mind to confront Octavian. Due to his newfound mind-reading abilities from Hera, he would easily be able to determine whether the legacy of Apollo was lying or not.

Percy briskly walked towards Temple Hill, enjoying the soft, invigorating breeze of the early morning, despite the anger coursing through his system at the moment. If Octavian was indeed guilty, Percy would spare no expense until he had gotten his revenge.

He stormed into the temple built for Jupiter, his eyes seeking out the augur. His eyes fell upon him, once again kneeling at the foot of Zeus' statue and in the process of decapitating a miserable looking small stuffed monkey.

Without a word, he snatched the stuffed monkey from Octavian's hand and threw it across the room.

"What is the meaning…" Octavian blustered. Or at least tried to.

Percy cut him off mid-sentence "Spare me the theatrics and admit it."

"Admit what?" Octavian asked in a silky voice, no doubt trying to manipulate Percy into his way of thinking again.

Percy's eyes darkened and he picked Octavian up by the scruff of his neck and pinned him to the wall, one hand on his neck.

"You know full well what I am talking about" Percy hissed. "I want to know why you stabbed Gwendolyn."

"I…I uh….I didn't do anything!" Octavian stammered, looking at Percy with what he thought was a sincere expression. To Percy, it just made Octavian look more of a fool than he was already.

"Do not lie to me" Percy said harshly. His voice had not risen since he had come to seek Octavian out, but the way his tone changed so suddenly was enough to almost make Octavian wet his pants.

Octavian weakly made to deny Percy's statement and Percy rolled his eyes, deciding that the time to use his powers was now. His eyes glowed as he stared hard into Octavian's mind. The most dominant emotion in Octavian's mind was his craving for power. He seemed to thrive on it and it was only now that Percy fully appreciated just how power hungry Octavian was. He would do anything, literally anything and would stop at nothing to accomplish his goals.

He focused on the particular memory that he wanted to find. He skimmed over a few other memories before finally finding the memory he wanted. He focused mainly on Octavian's intent and emotions as he began going through his memories of that night.

He saw Octavian's emotions, shifting around like a storm. He saw malice, hunger for revenge, jealousy and anger, all rolled into one, forming a dangerous mixture. Clear as day, Percy saw Octavian sneak up unnoticed while the battle was wrapping up and plunge his spear into Gwen's chest, then slink into the shadows, hoping to remain unnoticed. Gwen, meanwhile, fell to the ground.

Octavian was looking at him with fear clearly visible in his eyes. His hands were shifting around nervously. Percy looked hard into his eyes, and suddenly Octavian shrieked like a little girl and jumped back as if burned.

Before his eyes, Percy's eyes had turned into twin orbs of raging flame and appeared to be focusing all his ire at him, which they in fact, were.

Percy brought his fist back and slammed it into the side of Octavian's face, sending him reeling backwards to the floor of the temper. Percy however, did not let him recover and stalked towards Octavian before driving two punches into his abdomen and stomach respectively.

Octavian fell back and whimpered pitifully. Percy, about to punch the downed centurion again faltered in his movements. He had fully intended to kill Octavian if he was guilty, but now, he felt a twinge of remorse course through his system.

The honor he possessed as a soldier screamed for him to stop. Further maiming a downed enemy was not considered an honorable way of fighting and went against the very code of conduct a soldier possessed.

With a deep sigh, Percy stepped back from the whimpering augur. Before leaving, however, he turned to the centurion. "Remember my words carefully, augur" he spat, making the word sound like an insult. "You try to pull something like that against any legionnaire of Rome and you will feel my wrath. I will not be as forgiving as I was this time. You will pray for the cool embrace of death before I am through with you, if that happens" Percy let an ominous tone creep into his voice. "Do you understand?"

Octavian looked up at him with fear-filled eyes and nodded shakily. Giving Octavian one last scathing look, Percy took his leave of the temple. As he walked back to the barracks, he felt the rage leave him and slight remorse and revulsion take its place.

He silently berated himself for losing control. His actions, although they were justified, disgusted him. He was better than this and he shouldn't have let the augur get to him. He then realized that he would do anything to keep his friends out of harms way.

When he saw Gwen in that state, something in him had snapped, and when he thought that she had died, he had felt a part of his heart break, even though he had just met her a day prior to the accident. She just had one of those personalities that one could trust and relax around. Fun, compassionate, caring and patient, Gwen had a lot of the qualities he had admired about his mother, and it was not hard for him to think of Gwen as his sister.

He entered the barracks and made for his bed trying to be as silent as possible, thinking that everyone was still asleep. He was proved wrong, however, because when he was about to climb into his bunk, Gwen's voice reached his ears.

"Oi, Perce, where were you?" she asked sleepily, and it was easy for Percy to reach the conclusion that she had woken up just a few minutes prior to him entering the barracks.

"I went out for a walk" he said lamely, not wanting to make her worry about any repercussions that he might face for beating up Octavian.

"Cmon Perce, after three weeks you should have known I wouldn't buy that" she said sternly although she was smiling good naturedly.

Percy sighed. The cat was out of the bag now. With a deep breath, he narrated all that happened after he had woken up.

By the end of it, Gwen was staring at him with something akin to awe, and something else that he couldn't identify. It shocked him when, without a word, Gwen reached out and pulled him into a tight hug.

When she pulled back, Percy noticed a few tears in the corners of her eyes, which she wiped away quickly. "Perce" she began her voice shaking a bit before she shook her head as if to mentally steeling herself, before beginning again in a much stronger, steady voice. "Percy, I'm really happy that you care about me so much that you'd be willing to suffer several serious repercussions for me, but you shouldn't take such risks" she said, looking into his eyes.

Percy looked at her, expressionless, his gaze never wavering. He slowly spoke, not wishing to incur her ire but wanting to be honest. "Gwen, I can't honestly say that I wouldn't do this again if a situation such as this arose again that put your life in danger. The same for Reyna, Frank and Hazel. What I mean is, I'd do this again in a heartbeat if it protected you in some way."

"For example, after today, I don't think Octavian will try anything funny with you guys for fear of getting me riled up" he elaborated.

Percy's words endeared him to Gwen even more, if that was even possible. She felt very strongly for him, and thought of him as the brother she never had. She trusted him explicitly and would not hesitate to put herself between him and an enemy arrow, or sword, if need be. Sure they bickered often, but that's what siblings do, right? She thought to herself.

"I guess it's gonna be useless to argue with you" she grinned. "Anyways, the Senate won't fault you for what you did to Octavian, even if he works up the courage to complain. He was completely in the wrong and your proof could cripple his position in the Legion. Plus, he won't want to admit that he was beaten by you so easily" she explained.

Percy nodded along, having come to the same conclusions himself.

Gwen and Percy then proceeded to get the rest of the fifth legion out of their beds and into the showers before heading to breakfast.

Reyna was present in the mess hall, looking pleased about something. As Percy and Gwen entered, she looked up and smiled softly as the two made a beeline for her.

"I don't believe you two would know anything about our augur and his newly received injuries, would you?" she asked slyly.

Gwen hid a smirk while Percy looked at Reyna innocently. "What happened to our favorite centurion?" he questioned, feigning surprise.

"Well, I saw him with a messed up face and walking somewhat funny just a while ago, heading to the medical wing" she smirked. "You wouldn't happen to know about that by any chance?" she asked again.

"Don't know what you're talking about" Percy said airily, taking a bite out of the toast he had asked for from the wind spirits.

"Yeah, yeah" Reyna said, leaning back in her seat. "You really did a number on him, though."

Percy now turned to regard Reyna questioningly. "What's makes you think I did it anyways?"

"Percy, it's obvious. You're the most brash person I've ever known, and you wouldn't really care about the rules if you believed what you were doing was right."

Percy shrugged, a grin splitting his face. "You got me" he said, playfully throwing up his hands in surrender.

Reyna smirked at him while Gwen laughed outright at Percy's antics. After a fun filled breakfast, during which the trio were joined by Frank and Hazel, they broke up and headed off to carry out their duties.

Outside, Percy noticed a now healed Octavian talking to a group of legionnaires. Octavian was throwing suspicion filled glances at the mess hall and upon seeing Percy he sneered disparagingly. Percy merely looked at him with his face bare of expression. A warning bell was sounding in his head, but Percy chose to ignore it, and went to the Caldecott Tunnel, as he had been assigned to guard duty.

For the next few days, Percy noticed many legionnaires giving him strange, suspicious looks, some going as far as to glare at him hatefully. Percy, however, was not bothered by the petty actions of the Legion and ignored them completely.

 **Time skip: ( 5 days)**

Percy walked out of the mess hall, shoulder to shoulder with Gwen. On this particular day, he had had a deep feeling of unease in his stomach, as if something bad was going to happen, but he chose not to mention it to his friends, going about the day as he normally did.

The two were on their way to the armory to pick up Gwen's shield, which she had requested John to build for her. This particular shield had been suggested to her by Percy. The shield in question was neither completely circular nor rectangular like Roman shields.

It was sort of a cross between the two, and had a turtle shell shape. It would increase mobility and would allow Gwen to wield it as an offensive weapon more so than she could with the heavy, bulky Roman shield while allowing her a larger amount of protection than what a Greek shield offered.

They were distracted, however, by the large crowd of legionnaires assembled on the field of Mars. They went closer to find out the cause of the commotion. As they drew closer, they saw a lone figure at the front of the crowd of soldiers, yelling out to them in a nasal, high pitched voice.

Upon closer inspection the figure was revealed to be Octavian, confirming Percy's hunch. The two went forwards to hear what Octavian was saying. As they drew ever closer, Octavian's voice could be heard clearly and they could make out what was happening.

"My fellow Romans!" he yelled at the top of his voice. "We can not allow the son of Neptune to stay among us! I fear he will lead to Rome's destruction. The amount of power he has is suspicious, and I fear that he will turn this power on Rome! Do you remember the last time a son of Neptune was here?"

Percy had to admit that Octavian really had an uncanny way with words, weaving them together with precision to get the exact results he desired to get. That did not stop him from slightly frowning at the centurion. A sideways glance told him that Gwen was glaring at the augur with hate filled eyes, one hand on her sword, as if she wanted to go up to Octavian and right there and then cut him down in front of everyone. The thought made Percy smile despite himself.

He noticed Gwen begin storming over to Octavian and followed her quietly. He would have restrained her if she were anyone else, but this was Gwen. She was perfectly aware of the regulations that prohibited assault on Octavian, and she wouldn't beat him up so publicly either. Plus, she had a cool head on her shoulders, and would not do something so impulsive.

As Octavian saw Gwen approaching, he paused in the middle of his sentence, and upon seeing Percy at Gwen's shoulder, cringed slightly before getting himself under control, the customary sneer back on his face.

"If it isn't Gwendolyn" he said. "Hope you're feeling better after that unfortunate event at the games. Shame we didn't catch the culprit."

Percy's eyes narrowed an he stepped forward, but Gwen placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head slightly when he turned to regard her questioningly. He nodded that he understood and stepped back again as Gwen turned to Octavian.

"What is the meaning of this Octavian?" she asked, miffed.

"We were just making a decision in the best interests of the Legion" Octavian said in his oily voice, managing to make it condescending and irritating at the same time.

"And that would be what?" she questioned.

"The removal of the son of Neptune from the Legion" he said, without a hint of hesitation.

Gwen's eyes narrowed to slits as she stared down the thin augur, making him take a step back involuntarily. "On what grounds?"

"I am not answerable to you, centurion of the fifth" he replied, irritating Percy beyond belief.

Gwen managed to keep her cool and through gritted teeth, asked. "How do you think you'll manage the removal? The Senate has not been called upon."

Before Octavian could answer, Reyna dropped out of the sky on Scipio and landed next to Octavian and Gwen.

"What's going on here?" she asked imperiously.

After being informed of the situation, she too, narrowed her eyes, recognizing this as another bid for power from the augur.

Octavian then turned to Gwen. "You asked about the Senate. There's going to be a meeting at 1 o'clock, to decide if he should stay" said Octavian, speaking as if Percy wasn't standing right there, impassively looking on.

Reyna cut in before Gwen could reply. Gwen's cheeks had gained a slight red color because of her rising anger.

"Why was I not informed?"

"Weren't you?" Octavian questioned. Percy saw the feigned look of confusion on the augur's face, and without use of his powers, immediately knew he was lying. "The message may not have reached you. You are very busy after all."

Reyna nodded impassively. "Okay. However, I see no reason to hold a public gathering to belittle Perseus. Romans, see to your tasks!" she yelled, and the crowd adjourned.

Gwen then turned to Percy and saw him still wearing that emotionless mask. She shook his shoulder, rather hard, it seemed to Reyna. "Perce, snap out of it! Aren't you even a bit worried that the Senate will decide to kick you out of the Legion?"

Percy nodded his head slowly. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned and also a bit dejected since I won't be able to see much of you guys anymore, but things like this happen. That's life."

Gwen had a helpless look on her face, not knowing what to do.

Reyna broke in with a suggestion. "It's no use worrying about what may or may not happen. You two just get back to your assigned tasks and come to the meeting at one" she said, prompting Gwen to smile weakly at her suggestion. Even in such a situation, Reyna suggested that they work in order to get their minds off of the upcoming meeting.

Percy put a hand on Gwen's shoulder. "Cmon Gwen, Reyna's right. There's no use wasting time worrying. It'll be okay in the end, even if I have to leave."

Gwen nodded at his words. She knew that both her friends were right.

Reyna then headed off on Scipio, and Gwen and Percy set off for the Caldecott Tunnel where Gwen had guard duty and Percy went with her, to keep her company.

At 12:30, the two were relieved by the next pair, who just so happened to be Frank and Hazel. The two had heard about the upcoming senate meeting and both offered words of comfort to Percy.

The two then headed over to the senate house. The Senate house was located on the via principia, adjacent to the via principia. It was a magnificent building of white marble, circular in shape. The banners of all five cohorts were displayed outside, fluttering proudly in the breeze and the flag of new Rome was positioned a few feet ahead of the others.

They entered the circular room in which the senate meetings were held. The seats too were arranged in a circular pattern. The Senators had yet to arrive and Gwen had to join them, so she directed Percy to a seat where he could sit and then disappeared through a door, presumably to join her fellow senators.

Percy tried to make himself comfortable, trying his best to focus his mind. He would be lying to himself if he said that he was not worried about the meeting and the Senate's decision. He had thought for a while that he had found a home in Rome, with a new life and dear friends that he cherished beyond their knowledge.

He would never let it be known, but at present, he was hanging onto life by a thread. The break up with Annabeth and the deaths of his parents had very nearly broken him. If not for Hestia and Hera, Percy was sure that he would've been unable to continue with life.

Luckily, the goddesses had come at the best possible time and had brought him away safely from the brink of madness. Suddenly, he could hear several hushed voices speaking on the other side of the door, and he surmised that it was the senate.

His guess was proved right moments later, when the senate entered in its entirety. They were wearing pure white togas that were unadorned, excepting for having the Legion's symbol in gold, resting on their chests.

There were 20 of them and Percy recognized most of them as centurions and high ranking officials in new Rome. Reyna entered from another door, dressed in a white toga like the others. She however, had her praetor's cape over her shoulders, and there were two symbols on her shoulders in addition to the one on her chest.

She stepped up to the podium in the center of the room and announced. "The Senate has been called today to discuss the case of one, Perseus Jackson, son of Neptune." Finishing, she went over to her chair, sat a couple feet in front of the others, leaving the stage open to the senators.

Octavian stepped up first, a confident smirk on his face. With good reason too, Reyna mused to herself. After all, Octavian had more than half the senate in his pocket and of the legionnaires that weren't, some hated Percy for the stunt he had pulled in the war games, deciding the victory of the third, fourth and fifth cohorts.

"Senators of Rome, it is my somber duty to inform you of disturbing developments that have, in my view arisen" he began, trying to make his speech as grandiose as possible. "Percy Jackson has shown us great levels of power, power that could potentially be a threat to new Rome. Have you forgotten of Shen Lun?" he questioned, referring to the legacy of Poseidon who had almost destroyed camp Jupiter by causing a massive earthquake.

"Then arises the question of how he managed to heal Gwendolyn, centurion of the fifth cohort" he said, accompanying his words with a gesture in Gwen's direction. The centurion in question was currently glaring daggers at Octavian. "We all know that he could not have healed her with just nectar and ambrosia. What if he is a soothsayer, intent on corrupting Rome from the inside?" he said, speaking carefully.

"Above all, he is a Graecus, an outsider and a Greek, who does not belong here. What if he is here gathering intelligence to take back to his kin and mount an assault on our camp?" he asked. Percy noticed several of the senators nodding along to Octavian's words, and his heart sank slightly as he saw that Octavian's supporters constituted more than half of the Senate.

Octavian then concluded "My fellow senators, I hope that what will be decided will be in the best interests of Rome. Senatus Populusque Romanus" he said, moving toward his seat.

The Senate stood up and one by one took turns to speak, voicing their personal opinions on the matter, while Reyna looked on impassively. Some of the senators such as Gwen and Samantha spoke of him in high regard and commended him in front of the senate but more than half of the Senate spoke against him, supporting Octavian's line of thinking.

When all the senators had spoken, Reyna stood up. "The senate shall now decide if they want to keep Perseus Jackson as one of their own, or evict him from the Legion."

The senators spoke in hushed whispers, comparing their own opinions to their neighbors. At last, the whispers died down and Reyna called a vote.

"Those who wish for Perseus to stay, raise your hand and say 'nay'" said Reyna.

About a third of the hands went up, the first among them being Gwen's.

Reyna counted the votes and then turned to the rest. "Those who wish for Perseus to be evicted from the legion raise your hands and yell 'aye'".

Percy glanced around the room and that small look was enough to tell him that he had lost. Reyna counted the votes again and the senators seated themselves again. A remorseful look came into Reyna's eyes as she spoke. "The senate has decided. Perseus Jackson shall be evicted from the Legion."

At hearing this, Octavian smirked and almost yelled in jubilation, but contained himself at the last moment.

Percy just nodded, not trusting himself to speak, lest he say something he would regret later on. The problem having been settled, the senators exited the room, some throwing him compassionate glances while some like Michael Kahalle smirked at him victoriously, reveling in his defeat. Gwen was the first to leave the room, rushing out. Reyna glanced at Percy and then left the room, intent on changing out of her uniform and joining Percy.

If a soldier was evicted from the legion, they would have a period of 24 hours in which to prepare themselves and say goodbye to their friends in the Legion and she was intent to make good on those 24 hours. She would try her best to make sure that Percy had as much time to spend with his friends as possible before he had to leave.

Percy stepped out of the room last. The expression on his face was neutral, just as he'd always been taught, but inside, a whirlwind of emotions raged inside his head. Anger, sadness, disappointment and loss among them.

Although it was difficult for him to leave the place he had begun to call home after only a month or so, Percy knew that he could get over being kicked out of the Legion. What saddened him most, however, was the fact that he would have to leave his friends behind.

Frank and Hazel had really become close to him and Percy was very fond of both of them, considering them younger siblings. Reyna too, had become a very good friend, one of his best. The two shared quite a few similarities among them, one of them being the fact that both had led a camp of soldiers and had been burdened with the pressure to lead their respective armies into battle for Olympus.

The fact that he would have to leave Gwen, however, was easily the hardest to swallow. The two had become more than just friends. Gwen had grown to be an older sister to Percy, giving him advice, keeping him from doing rash things and just being there for him. The same had been true for Percy as he had become the outlet for her emotions and many a time it had been Percy who had been there for her when she had been down.

As he thought about everything that had transpired and what was to come, he reached the exit door of the senate house. He was barely out of the door when his vision was suddenly obscured by a mass of blonde hair. It took a moment for him to realize that the hair belonged to Gwen, who had just hugged him.

She embraced him for all she was worth, as if she was holding on for dear life. He heard a choked sniffle and after a moment comprehended that the normally stoic centurion was softly crying on his shoulder. Being clueless with girls' emotions, he awkwardly patted her back, wanting to do all he could to comfort her.

When she finally pulled back after what seemed like an hour to Percy, he noticed tears in her brilliant blue eyes, something that saddened him to no end.

"It's not fair" Gwen sniffled, trying to control her tears, angrily rubbing at her eyes.

"Life isn't fair, Gwen" Percy said softly, rubbing comforting circles on his pseudo-sister's back. "It'll be fine in the end, you'll see" he said confidently, hoping silently that he was right and everything would turn out fine.

"But what if I never see you again?" she asked. She had stopped crying and only let out the occasional sniff. There were still tear tracks on her face, and Percy tenderly reached out and wiped them off of her face before replying.

"Gwen, I promise I will do all I can to come visit as much as possible. I cannot promise that I will come with complete surety, as I do not know what the fates have in store for me, but know that I will try my level best to come visit you guys whenever I can" he spoke with utter conviction.

This finally got Gwen to smile weakly. "When did you become so wise, aquaboy?" she asked teasingly, using one of the many nicknames that had been devised for Percy.

"I dunno" he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "You must be rubbing off on me more than I thought, sunshine" he said teasingly, using the nickname he knew Gwen hated the most.

Gwen punched him on the arm, drawing a slight wince from Percy. That girl sure could punch hard, he thought ruefully. "What have I told you about using that nickname for me?" she asked, a look of mock anger on her face, causing Percy to raise his hands in surrender.

It was only then that he noticed Reyna who had been standing a few feet away all along. When she saw that he noticed her and that Gwen was now visibly okay, she came forward too.

She surprised Gwen, Percy and even herself when she suddenly lunged forward and hugged him, something she had never done before, even with Jason Grace. She held him in a brief embrace before pulling back too. Percy was surprised that the normally impassive praetor had a plaintive look on her face, something she covered up quickly.

Reyna smirked at the dumbfounded looks both Gwen and Percy were giving her. "What?" she asked. "You know full well that he's affected all of us" she said to Gwen, who nodded. Percy had a tendency to unlock certain parts of people that even they didn't know existed.

Reyna then gave both a hard look. "We're not going to spend Percy's last day here moping around" she declared. "Let's pretend for today that nothing ever happened and we're just a group of friends having fun. We'll get Frank and Hazel and have a picnic." Her words surprised Percy yet gain but he nodded.

"Sounds good" he said, helping Gwen -who had seated herself on the grass a while ago- to her feet.

The part of the day that followed was perfect, in Percy's humble opinion. Easily one of the best days of his life. His friends did their best to divert Percy's attention from the fact that he was leaving, at the same time diverting their own attention from the same thing.

For the rest of the day, Percy leaving the Legion was not mentioned, and indeed, the five forgot about Percy's impending departure and enjoyed the day like normal teenagers. They had their picnic at the bank of the river Tiber along the stretch where Reyna had brought Percy to train. The place was secluded, and so, perfectly met their needs.

After eating the five swam in the river, having water fights which always ended with Percy smirking victoriously while the others begged for him to stop sending jets of water at them so fast and hanging them upside down by use of his water powers.

They stayed up late that night, wanting to spend as much time together as possible. It was after midnight when Reyna left the others to go to the Praetors' residence and the other four walked to their barracks.

They dropped to their beds and were asleep almost instantly, following their emotionally charged and exhausting day. All of them, that is, except Percy, who lay awake as usual, reliving the day's events. He was lucky to have such splendid friends. He finally fell asleep, staring at the beautiful crescent moon and the stars through the skylight.

The next morning Percy woke up when the sun's rays penetrated the previously dark barracks and instantly remembered the events of last day, a downtrodden look coming onto his face. However, he went through his normal morning routine and upon returning to his bunk noticed that Gwen was awake. Gwen's eyes were bloodshot and she was awake long before she would usually be. Both these details concerned Percy but he decided not to question her, knowing that she was troubled because he was leaving.

She acted like nothing was wrong, however, and after rousing the Legion, she and Percy headed to the mess hall. The were joined by Frank and Hazel, the former rubbing his eyes blearily as he was not used to getting up so early after going to bed at such an ungodly hour.

At breakfast, Reyna left the praetor's table and joined them at the fifth cohort's table, turning more than a few heads as she had never done something similar before. After breakfast, she left the mess hall with them as they headed over to the barracks one last time to get Percy's stuff before he departed.

On the way they stopped over at the armory where Percy said goodbye to John. The burly blacksmith had never believed him a threat to new Rome, rather, the opposite. As a parting gift, John gave him new lightweight guards for his knees and elbows. They were masterfully crafted of Imperial gold. Percy thanked John profusely before they headed to the barracks.

Percy collected his meager possessions – his duffel bag, sword and armor was all he had- and then took one last, long look at the room before nodding, as if in solemn farewell, and then leaving the room. They headed to the border and on the way the legionnaires of the fifth and most of the fourth wished him good luck. They had not sided with Octavian and were disheartened by Percy's departure.

What surprised Percy and the others, however, was that a few members from the 3rd and 2nd cohort also wished him well. Others however, such as Michael Kahalle, Octavian and Larry looked on with smirks, relishing in their 'victory'.

Percy pointedly ignored all of them, his lack of reaction frustrating many of them. However, as he reached Octavian, he paused in his steps to say some final words to the augur.

"You will come to regret your actions, Octavian. However, if I find out that you have been disrespectful to my friends or have harmed them in any way, you will wish for the fields of punishment long before I am done with you" he said, venom lacing his every word.

Despite the tone Percy was using, Octavian looked up smugly, wanting to get off a parting shot. "You w.." he began, but his words froze in his throat as a horrified expression made its way onto his face. Percy's eyes were now smoldering pits of flame, promising pain, death and eternal torment.

Percy smirked a bit at the expression on Octavian's face while his friends chuckled lightly. They finally made it to the camp's border. Now Percy was surrounded only by his four friends, a small number of legionnaires looking on from a short distance away.

Percy turned to his friends to say his final goodbyes and as he was about to speak, found he couldn't, due to the bile that had suddenly risen in his throat. He cleared his throat and tried to speak again but found he couldn't.

He tried once again and found that he was able to speak, but his tone was oddly choked and raspy. He first turned to Frank.

"Frank, you've been a great friend, one of the greatest. You welcomed me into the cohort and have supported me all this time. I will do all in my power to free you from your curse" At Percy's words, Frank had gone slightly teary eyed. "Remember, be strong, and protect your friends" at this, Percy leaned in and spoke so that only Frank could hear. "I've seen how you look at Hazel. I know you like her. Work up the courage to ask her out before your chance is lost forever."

Now Percy's tone got a warning edge to it. "Remember this, though. If you do get together and you break her heart or hurt her in any other way, friend or not, there will be nothing to stop me from snapping your neck, you understand?"

Frank gulped audibly at Percy's words and his face paled dramatically but he nodded nonetheless.

"I'll miss you Percy" he said honestly.

"I'll miss you too, big guy" Percy said, leaning forwards and pulling Frank into a friendly hug. He was barely holding on to his tears at this point.

Next, he turned to Hazel. "Hazel, I'll always cherish the friendship we've formed this past month. You're like a little sister to me and you always will be" he leaned forwards again. "I can see something special between you and Frank and your heart is aware of that already, even though your mind may not be. I trust you to make the right decision. Rest assured I will do everything I can to rid you of your curse. Be strong, Hazel" he said.

He then leaned forwards and pulled Hazel into a brief but meaningful hug. There were tears in Hazel's eyes as she returned the hug. Small gems began bursting from the ground a short distance away as Hazel quickly tried to reign in her emotions.

Percy now faced Reyna. "Reyna, I'll never be able to thank you enough for your companionship, friendship and trust. You trusted me when almost nobody did and when you had no reason to place your trust in me. You've become more than a friend to me, and I detect the same emotions from you sometimes. We're siblings, you and I, albeit of different parents."

"Continue to remain strong for the Legion and lead them well. I'll miss you, until we meet again. 'Aut vincere aut mori' (conquer or die)" he finished.

Reyna stood stock still and then, without warning, lunged at him, wrapping her arms around Percy and holding him there. Percy returned the hug with equal fervor until Reyna let go.

"I'll miss you too" she said, stepping back.

Percy now turned to the one remaining person, the person who meant the most to him, at least in camp Jupiter. Gwen had unshed tears in her eyes as she looked at Percy.

"Gwen" he began, already choking on his words. "Words may never voice how thankful I am to you. From my first day here, you stepped up and were there for me at any given moment. You comforted me, you listened to me and you trusted me. You've been the perfect friend and more besides, more than I could ever ask for, more than I deserved" he said, tears finally pooling in his eyes. "I'll miss you so, so much" he said with heartfelt emotion.

Gwen said nothing, preferring to wrap him in the fiercest embrace she could manage. Percy returned the hug and held her. He noticed her body wracking slightly with suppressed sobs and he started rubbing comforting circles on her back, trying to calm her down.

After what seemed like an eternity, his pseudo-sister pulled away. "I'll miss you Percy, more than I can ever voice" she said, her voice wavering.

Percy smiled at his friends one last time, committing their faces to memory in case he never saw them again and then turned, walking past the camp's borders and out of sight of his friends.

He went into a patch of forest nearby and sat on the forest floor, trying to keep his emotions in check. He had succeeded in doing so when he was with his friends, but now, he was finding it hard to keep the tears in check.

He drew a shuddering breath and then the tears finally came. He didn't notice the sudden flash of orange light or the arms that wrapped around him as he cried. Finally someone spoke and Percy was suddenly pulled back to Earth. He saw a mane of black hair as someone embraced him.

He felt comfort and hope flow through him, and with a start, he realized that the someone was Hestia, sending pulses of hope into his body.

"My lady" he said respectfully, bowing his head. "How come you're here?" he asked.

"You're my champion, I wanted to see what was wrong. Because you're my champion, I am somewhat in tune with your emotions. I felt a sudden distortion and flashed down to see what was wrong. It seems I came at the right time. Oh, and Hera felt it too. She was about to flash here but was called upon by Zeus. He's been getting suspicious about her sudden departures" she explained. "She asked me to pass her regards to you, and to say she's sorry for not being here."

"I understand" Percy said. "You being here was a big help, milady" he said gratefully.

Hestia waved away his thanks. "You're my champion, it's no big deal. So, do you mind telling me what happened? I've been checking on you once a week or so and all seemed fine last week" she said, confused.

"Last week was okay" he chuckled hollowly, not noticing Hestia's wince at his tone. He proceeded to tell her what had happened from the point where he had beaten up Octavian to where he was right now.

When he got to the part where the Legion had voted to discharge him from the legion and how most of the legionnaires had supported the motion, he was suddenly startled into silence.

Right in front of him, Hestia's fists were balled in range and her form was flickering, on the brink of assuming her true, immortal form. She was shaking with rage and was covered in Greek fire. The air around her was crackling dangerously.

"I will destroy them all!" she shouted, using a tone of voice Percy had never heard before from the usually passive goddess. If he was honest with himself, her tone scared him. It was laced with power and authority and that, coupled with her body language made Percy wish that he never got on her bad side.

He forced himself into action, however, to stop Hestia from blowing apart camp Jupiter. "My lady, please, calm down. Destroying the camp will achieve nothing. It isn't the Legion's fault, anyways. Octavian is the one who worked them up. I very much feel like beating him to a pulp, but that would have no positive effect as all it would do is show my lack of self control."

As he spoke, he noticed the air around him cooling and saw Hestia's form becoming clearer. The crackling noise that had broken the silence of the forest was there no longer and Hestia's body was now void of flames.

"You're right" she said, a hint of pride in her voice. "Very wise, Percy. This just proves that I made the right choice in making you my champion."

Percy bowed his head in respect, making Hestia cluck her tongue in disapproval. She had told him not to be so formal around her it hadn't deterred him and she now knew it was useless to try and change his mind. She would try sometimes, half heartedly, but he wouldn't cave in.

"So, what do you plan on doing now?" she asked, somewhat curious.

"I'm going to return to camp half blood for a bit" Percy replied, shocking Hestia. She didn't speak, however, knowing that he would explain his train of thought. "I feel I'm over Annabeth enough to return and my friends are still there. I also have to meet Jason Grace, he's my cousin after all."

He wasn't telling Hestia the whole truth. In all honesty, he wasn't over Annabeth and it still hurt him deeply to think about her. He, however, wanted to return to camp, as he wanted to meet Jason Grace, as well as reunite with his friends in camp half blood.

"That does make sense" she admitted. "Well, if you're ready, I'll flash you to camp" she said.

"Thanks my lady, but I can flash myself now" he replied, startling her yet again. Hestia would never fail to be amazed at Perseus. Just when she would think that nothing Percy did would amaze her, he would find a way to defy nature and surprise her yet again. She smiled at Percy, feeling pride well up in her. This demigod, who had lost so much, had carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, quite literally, was still carrying on with life, coping with all the hardships and challenges admirably.

"Well then, off with you" she said, making a shooing gesture with her hands.

Percy smiled at her and then raised one hand in farewell. Hestia nodded at him, smiling back.

Suddenly he vanished in a flash of swirling fire, making Hestia grin. She knew that he could probably manage to flash using both fire and water but had chosen to flash using his fire powers to impress her. "Show off" she thought and smirked in amusement, before flashing herself up to Olympus as well.

Percy appeared at the foot of the rise on the other side of which lay camp half blood. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and sighed happily. He was home. He started climbing the small hill, looking around at the lush green grass. He could see a small cloud of smoke rising from Thalia's tree where Peleus the dragon was guarding the golden fleece which was the source of the camp's protective barrier.

He stepped towards the tree, wanting to greet Peleus before moving on. As he approached, however, he saw another figure with Peleus, petting him. He drew closer and saw that the person was a Greek soldier. The person was in a full suit of armor, except the helmet. From the long blonde hair, he deduced that it was a female.

As he neared the two, the girl perceived that she was not alone and looked up. Stormy grey eyes met Percy's sea green orbs and he was rendered incoherent for a minute.

"Here we go again" Percy muttered….

 **AN: Okee guys, here's chapter five, done ! Hope you people liked it…this chapter was a bit smaller than the last two, but whatever, right ? As always, follow, favorite and review…. Next chapter will be up next weekend, hopefully… cya guys**

 **HOA11 signing off**


	6. Chapter 6

Guys, thanks so much for your support of my petty work of fiction, I'm forever indebted to those of you who gave the story a chance and have a stuck round for so long…. I can never thank you people enough, so… yah….

I'm also sorry for the late chapter, but I've some serious stuff going on in life… I might not be able to post a new chapter for a month or so, until things cool down… just know that I'll never abandon this fic. I'll finish it, for sure, even if I am an old wizened soul when it happens.. pinky swear !

So, time to answer some reviews.

 _ **Darrenn100 : Oof. Thats all i have to say. This fanfic is freaking amazing. Fast and slow at the same time. Love it**_

 **I'm psyched that you like it! One of my favorite reviews for chapter 5… I hope you stick around! Thanks so much!**

 _ **DarkGamer159(**_ according to your request since your review was hella long, I'll just reply)

 **Well, first of all , your review was awesome to read. I'd been waiting to hear a 'heat chapter!' form you and finally did… awesome ! I'll try to incorporate some of what you suggested, dunno if I can tho, since it would stray from my thought process.. thanks again, stick around !**

 _ **TheYoLOMan: (your review was rather lengthy as well, so, forgive me if I don't paste it here before replying).**_

 **Thank you for the awesome review ! I loved the fact that you seem to be thinking along the same lines as me most of the time…. Some things don't line up, but still, lol… Cheers!**

 _ **Dragonborn053: Great chapter. Absolutely loved it**_

 **Once again, a great review! Tysm! *hugs***

 _ **SilentSniper05**_ **: (not gonna post your review just cause :p)**

 **I hate you… you know that, right? Infuriating male ! I'll come for you one of these days… you'd better start running. ^_^ yeah, that's about it.. oh, and thanks for the review xD**

 **Anyways, enjoy chapter 6, guys!**

 **Disclaimer** : **Do I really need to keep putting these up?**

Chapter 6:

As he neared the two, the girl perceived that she was not alone and looked up. Stormy grey eyes met Percy's sea green orbs and he was rendered incoherent for a minute.

"Here we go again" Percy muttered to himself.

The girl straightened and slowly paced towards him, looking at him as if he had come back from the dead. She stopped a few feet from him and looked deep into his eyes, disbelief etched upon her face.

"Hello Annabeth" Percy said evenly.

"P…Pe.. Percy?" she stuttered. "But how? Where have you been? We thought you had died!" she said, still looking at him as if he was a spectre.

"How I am here or where I have been is of no consequence to you, Annabeth" Percy said coolly.

The words cut Annabeth deep. She had been used to Percy coming to her to unload and she was the one he used to confide in. It seemed that was not the case now and Annabeth suddenly felt fragile and insecure.

She had felt terrible about breaking up with Percy and had spent many sleepless nights wondering what could have come to be if she had not dumped Percy so heartlessly and so abruptly. She now had bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and she was downcast and listless all the time. Her friends from camp had done all they could to get her out of her funk, but all their efforts had been to no avail.

She had tried going to college to get her mind off Percy, but it had not worked. She found that college was too easy for her and she missed all her friends and siblings from camp and within a month she had returned to camp half blood.

She had been wearing the ring Percy had given her from the moment she had picked it up after he had left when she dumped him. Annabeth had prayed to all the gods she could think of, praying for a second chance, praying for her and Percy's paths to cross again.

It seemed her prayers had somehow been answered. She had been planning on what to say to Percy if they ever met again but she forgot all of that as she stared into his bright sea green eyes, presently clouded with what she thought was distrust. She steeled her nerves and prepared to beg Percy for another chance.

"Percy…" she began, but then trailed off. She tried again, the words coming out right this time. "Percy, please, listen to what I have to say and then you can walk off and pretend this never happens if you feel like it" she pleaded, hoping that he would accept.

Percy contemplated this for a few seconds before deciding there was no harm in hearing her out. He gave her a curt nod prompting her to give him a grateful smile. A smile that had once sent shivers down his spine now only served to sadden him from the inside, even though he did not react outwardly.

"Percy, the decision I made, it was completely rash. Just throwing you away like that was the worst decision I've ever made. I should never have done that" she began.

"Doesn't change the fact that you did" Percy interjected.

Annabeth's face fell at his words, but she plowed on nonetheless. "I can't remember any period in my life where I've ever felt so miserable, alone and lonely" she admitted. "I made the decision in a moment of stupidity, jealousy and suspicion" she said. "I thought you were disappearing off with some other girl or something and I just couldn't take it."

"My fucking fatal flaw is LOYALTY!" Percy shouted out the word loyalty, making Annabeth cringe and step back. "I would never have betrayed you for another girl! I was happy to just be with you, I loved you!" he said, all semblance of self control flying out of the metaphorical window.

There were tears in Annabeth's eyes as she looked at Percy. "Did you mean that?" she asked, feeling insecure.

Percy forced himself to camp down and let a deep sigh escape. "Yes, Annabeth, I did. I loved you for all I was worth, you were the most important thing in life. That's why I was about to propose to you" he said running a hand through his hair.

Annabeth's hand went to her mouth as tears began leaking out of her eyes. Even though they had shared many precious moments together, neither of them had ever told the other that they loved them. It was sort of silent understanding that they did, but they had never said so aloud.

Hearing him say this at that moment sent a shock through Annabeth, and butterflies seemed to dance in her stomach. She felt happiness and love for Percy overcome her before she remembered that she had dumped him and broken his heart. He probably thought of her as some slag who just liked to play with boys' feeling before throwing them away.

She, however, was determined to try her best to get another chance with Percy and she was not about to give up so easily.

"Percy, you know that my fatal flaw is my hubris, my self pride that all children of Athena possess. Despite that, I admit that I was the one who wronged you and was completely wrong in doing so" she said, prompting Percy to raise his eyebrows slightly in surprise. He had known about Annabeth's fatal flaw since they had passed the sirens in the sea of monsters and had known how difficult it was for children of Athena to swallow their pride.

Annabeth took advantage of his silence and took the opportunity to press on. "I really want another chance. I know that I don't deserve this chance, but would you please think about it? Don't you ever wonder how our future could have turned out? Don't you want to find out?" she said, eyes on the ground.

That was why she was surprised when she felt Percy's hands on the side of her face, gently bringing her eyes up to meet his. "Annabeth, after you broke up with me, my heart broke. I almost lost the will to live. You did hurt me terribly, but despite that, I still love you. I admit that I've imagined what the fates would've had in store for us, and I would really like to find out."

Percy words caused a hopeful look to come in her eyes as she waited for a direct answer.

An answer came soon. Slowly, Percy closed the distance between them and softly pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet and innocent, but it did not fail to send shock waves of pleasure up Annabeth's spine. Her legs suddenly felt like rubber and she was sure she'd fall to the ground if Percy had not been holding her up.

Percy too, felt a shock of pleasure as he kissed Annabeth. Days and months later he would think about what had happened and why he had accepted Annabeth back so easily, but he just couldn't seem to figure it out. A deep compulsion to give them another chance had risen within his gut and he had gone with that.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, the two broke away, faces flushed. Annabeth gave him a dazzling smile when she pulled back making Percy smile softly. Oh, how he had missed that smile.

She reached her left hand out but Percy pulled his hand back, rejecting her advance softly.

"Even though we're giving this another chance, things can't go back to where they were just like that, as much as either of us would like them to" he explained, and Annabeth nodded.

She didn't let this faze her in the slightest. She had known that she would have to build up trust between them from scratch. She determined to do all she could to gain his trust again and that was exactly what she would do.

She gave Percy a nod of understanding, making him smile at her again, sending another shiver down her spine.

"We should probably get down there and reunite you with everybody. Some of us have been pretty worried" she said, and Percy nodded his head, longing in his eyes. One of his major reasons for coming back had been to meet his friends once again and explain his absence.

"Yeah. I also wanna meet Jason Grace" he said, prompting Annabeth to look at him in surprise.

"How do you….?" she began curiously.

"I'll explain later, when everyone is together."

Annabeth nodded her head, forcing her inquisitive side down. She would wait patiently until Percy told her, even if she had to fight rather hard against her very nature.

"Well, you'll see Jason tomorrow. He's on a quest with another camper right now."

He nodded his consent. "Let's go meet Chiron and the others" he said excitedly, beginning to lead the way down to the big house.

He scrutinized his surrounding as he walked and happily noticed that everything was just as it was when he left. He could see the strawberry fields in the distance and the satyrs tending to them, blowing their reed pipes to speed up the progress of the plants. The volleyball court was just as he remembered it and the cabins were present a ways away, still in the same 'U' shape formation.

Behind them, however, he noticed something new. In neat lines there were dozens of other cabins. Percy grinned in satisfaction as he surmised that those were the cabins for the minor gods that he had requested the Olympians to build for the demigods of the minor gods.

Annabeth allowed him to lead her to the big house, smiling at his enthusiasm fondly. She was content with just watching him take in the camp after being away from it for such a long time.

They reached the big house and a wave of nostalgia overcame Percy. The big house had a lot of history. It had housed the Oracle, which had sent Percy on his first quest what seemed like ages ago. Had it only been 5 years ago that he traveled to the underworld to save his mother?

He was broken out of his reverie as he saw something that made him smile with the familiarity of it all. Chiron and Mr. D were out on the deck, bent over a table, playing what was undoubtedly pinochle. So engrossed were they in their game that they did not notice the two demigods until Percy cleared his throat, standing behind Chiron.

Chiron turned at the sound while Mr. D looked up. Chiron stared at Percy for a full minute, looking at him as if he did not believe his eyes.

"P... Perseus my boy, is that you?" he asked.

Percy nodded. Of all the things and people, he had left behind in Camp Half-Blood, Chiron was one of the people whom he had missed the most. The centaur had been a father figure to him. He was wise, civilized, kind and intelligent, as well as one of the most honorable people Percy knew. Chiron had always pushed Percy to do his best and he was the man, or rather, centaur who had taken a large part in molding Percy into the person he had become.

Chiron got out of his wheelchair and approached Percy slowly, in his centaur form. He reached Percy and hugged him and, in that moment, mentor and student were reunited.

"Perseus where have you been? We've all been so worried" he questioned, desperate for answers himself.

Percy looked Chiron dead in the eye and replied covertly, so that Annabeth didn't pick up what he was saying. "San Francisco, Oakland hills" he said.

Chiron's eyes widened as he grasped what Perseus had been telling him. "I'll explain later, when everyone is together" Percy said, noticing Chiron's look.

Chiron nodded in understanding, holding back his questions for the moment.

"Well, my boy, it's a pleasure to have you among us again. Why don't you gather the people that you trust and bring them over to the war room at 6 this evening? We can talk without a chance of being overheard" he said, and Percy nodded his acceptance.

He then looked past Chiron to Dionysus "Hey Mr.D."

"You're back again, huh Perry Johnson?" he said, getting his name wrong on purpose yet again.

"Yep" Percy replied in a chipper tone, and Mr. D scowled. "Try not to get on my nerves so much" he said, before summoning a can of diet coke and taking a long sip before his gaze returned to the game of Pinochle he had been having with Chiron.

Percy, recognizing the dismissal turned to Chiron and nodded at him before leaving the deck of the big house to go round up his friends, Annabeth in tow. He first made his way to the Hermes cabin, wanting to find Travis and Connor Stoll.

Percy led the way to the Hermes cabin, still clutching Annabeth's hand. The Hermes cabin was just as he remembered it, except for the fact that it had gained a new coat of sky blue paint to replace the previous brown coat, which had been old and faded.

He peered inside the cabin which, although not as full as it was before, was still quite packed. It seemed Hermes got around a lot, Percy thought, smiling ruefully. Just as he expected, however, Connor and Travis were at the back of the cabin in their bunks, heads together. Doubtless planning their next prank, Percy surmised.

Travis was tall and skinny with a mop of curly brown hair that hung in his blue eyes. Percy noticed that he was wearing his usual attire, an orange camp T-shirt untucked over baggy shorts. Like most of the other children of Hermes, he had elvish features, upturned eyebrows, and the familiar, sarcastic smile coupled with the mischievous gleam in his eyes.

Connor sitting next to him looked almost exactly like Travis, with the same matching features, and the same expression on his face. The only way Percy could differentiate between the two was by their heights. Connor, being younger than Travis, was also a little shorter.

So engrossed were they that they did not notice Percy until he was almost on top of them. Connor reached up to brush his mop of hair out of his eyes and glanced up, his eyes falling on the demigod. He looked at Percy as if he didn't believe his eyes.

"Travis, am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?" he asked, and Travis looked up to see what Connor was talking about. His eyes fell on Percy and the same expression that adorned his brothers face rose upon his own.

"Percy?" he asked.

Percy nodded, a mischievous grin lighting up his features.

Both stood stock still for a few seconds and then, simultaneously, yelled in joy before enveloping Percy in a double hug. As soon as they broke the brief hug, both fell to the ground and repeatedly started bowing to Percy.

"The vanquisher of Kronos is among us again, brother. We should take care to not push his buttons too much. Who knows what he'll do to us" Connor said to Travis when they came up from their third bow. Travis nodded before speaking.

"Simply corking to meet you again, my dear chap" said Travis, adopting a comical British accent.

Percy laughed mirthfully at the antics of the two, and Annabeth joined in, chuckling softly as well.

"All humor put aside, it's go to see you again Perce. We've missed our third pranking partner" Travis winked, and Connor nodded earnestly.

"I've missed you knuckleheads as well" Percy replied, causing the siblings to put on mock wounded expressions. Their expressions changed suddenly, just a few seconds later, as if the same question had come to both their minds. Knowing them, Percy surmised that it was entirely possible. It was Connor who spoke, however.

"So, what's been going on? Where have you been?" he asked.

"That's part of the reason I came to your cabin. Come to the big house at 6 this evening, and I'll tell you everything. I want to tell everyone together so that I don't have to keep repeating myself" Percy explained, and the two nodded.

After saying goodbye, the two returned to their planning session and Percy and Annabeth exited the cabin. Percy received greetings from many of the Hermes campers who recognized him.

The same was the case when they were outside. Percy was hailed by many of the campers who had known him. Percy returned the greetings cheerily, happy to see so many familiar faces, and even more so to see so many new demigods at camp.

Percy headed to the Demeter cabin to see Katie Gardner, one of his close friends, a veteran of the titan war. She had been at camp longer than anyone, a period of 10 years. She had been brought to the camp when she was just 7 years old. This meant that she was the most experienced councilor at camp half blood.

The Demeter cabin's roof was constructed of growing grass and had tomato vines growing on the walls. It had wild flowers and roses growing on the porch. The cabin was painted a dark shade of brown, reminiscent to freshly turned earth. It rested in between Hera's and Athena's Cabin. Inside, there is a grassy floor and an oak tree in the middle of the cabin that held up the ceiling.

Percy however, did not enter the cabin and went around it, Annabeth still right behind him. Behind the cabin, a scant 15 feet away, there was a small garden. It was surrounded by a wooden fence and was in an area where it would receive the most sunlight. The garden belonged to Katie, Percy knew, and it had been cared for lovingly by the daughter of Demeter.

Inside, brightly colored flowers of many kinds were present. Petunias, roses, orchids and poppies were all present. What drew Percy's eye the most were five flowers which he knew were moonlace. They were simply beautiful, glowing a bright silver, even in the daytime. Percy would always connect them to the moon. At night, they would bloom and grow while in the daytime they were dormant even thought they still exuded simplistic beauty. Just like the moon, Percy mused.

He remembered when he had brought the flowers to Katie after Calypso had given him a few of the flowers when he was returning from Ogygia and how happy she had been upon receiving them. She had run right off, retrieved a trowel, and had planted the flowers then and there, slap bang in the middle of her garden.

He had expected to find Katie tending to her garden as she usually did in the afternoon, and he was not wrong. Katie was there, bent over one of the flowerbeds, tending to her flowers. Her brown hair fell in a curtain in front of her right eye, and she seemed too busy to brush it back. Her brown eyes were focused intently on the task at hand, not even looking up when Percy and Annabeth approached.

This time, Annabeth went forwards, and spoke. "Hey Katie, there's someone here who wants to see you."

At Annabeth's voice, Katie looked up questioningly. She looked past Annabeth and her eyes fell upon Percy. Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in amazement. Percy, one of her best friends, who she had believed to be dead was standing there, looking at her with a soft grin.

She slowly got to her feet, and exited her garden, making her way over to Percy. She tried to say something, anything, but the words just didn't semester to be able to come out. After trying once again to speak, and failing, she thought, "screw it all" and launched herself at Percy.

Percy knew that Katie was one of his more emotional friends and had been hugged by her on many occasions, so he was used to it by now. He returned her embrace, a comfortable feeling washing over him.

Katie finally pulled back and looked Percy over appraisingly, wanting to see if he was okay. Percy looked just the same as ever, disheveled raven hair with the grey stripe in his hair that had been there since he had taken the weight of the sky from Artemis. The same sarcastic, trouble maker smile, and bright sea green eyes were present. There was one obvious difference to Percy, however, and it astounded Katie.

Percy had been lean, muscular and fit the last time she had seen him but what she now saw was nothing short of insane. Percy's body had gained even more muscle mass, something which she had never thought would happen.

'Percy, it's been so long. I've missed having you around, seaweed brain" she finally said sincerely, as soon as she was able to speak.

"Missed you too, Melonhead" he said, smirking slightly at her mock outraged expression. He had picked out the nickname for her, due to her affiliation with plants.

She punched him slightly on the shoulder. "I spoke too soon, I take my words back" she said, before giggling at the pretend look of hurt on Percy's face. "Where have you been all this time?" she asked.

"Can't tell you" he said, teasing her.

"Perseus Jackson you answer me this instant!" she glared at him to emphasize her words, though her tone belied her real emotions.

"Come to the big house at 6. I'm going to gather everyone and tell them all at once, I don't want to keep repeating the story to everyone I meet."

Katie looked impatient but nodded her head in understanding. "Okay. Well, I guess you're rounding up the gang, so you can't stay, yes?" she asked, and when Percy nodded, continued. "You'd better come over later so that we can catch up."

"Ya got yourself a deal" Percy drawled, imitating a western twang.

Katie giggled at his rather bad imitation and then shooed Percy and Annabeth away, telling them that she'd be at the big house at six sharp.

Percy and Annabeth then went to find Will Solace, the head counselor of the Apollo cabin, and one of Percy's first friends at camp.

This time it was Annabeth who led the way to the archery range, knowing that Will would be there at this time of the day, either teaching new campers, or strengthening his own skills.

Sure enough, will was at the archery range, drilling arrows into targets. Percy noticed that although Will was good, he was no match for the hunters. Percy himself had spent months raining his archery skills further and was now arguably, an expert bowman. He felt he could rival Artemis with further training, due to the blessing of Hera.

"Will!" yelled Annabeth, to get his attention. He turned toward her, and Percy got a good look at his friend.

Will looked the same as he always did. He resembled his father, Apollo, greatly. The same surfer body, shaggy blonde hair and bright blue eyes were present. He had a lean, athletic build which had become slightly more muscled over time, Percy noted.

Will's eyes lit up when he saw Percy. The two hugged and exchanged small talk, while Annabeth simply looked on. After Will promised to be present at the big house come 6 o'clock, now an hour away, Percy and Annabeth moved on to look for the last person they needed to round up.

The person was, of course, Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares. Percy and Clarisse fought often, for all they were worth, but either would lay down their life for the other. They were both warriors, battle hardened veterans. There was no one at camp except Percy who could match Clarisse in a one-on-one fight.

They looked in the Ares cabin, but she was not there. The same was the case when they looked near the volleyball court, the arena, and the strawberry fields. Annabeth told Percy that Clarisse was not scheduled for guard duty that day, so she wasn't at the camps borders either.

Annabeth furrowed her brows in slight confusion as she wondered where Clarisse would be. She was still standing around when, with a slight rustle, Clarisse herself stepped out of the woods, a scant 15 meters away from where they were currently standing.

Clarisse was accompanied by Chris Rodriguez, her boyfriend. She stopped dead when she saw Percy standing next to Annabeth. She checked herself with a slight shake of her head and then turned and whispered something to Chris. He nodded before leaving her side and making his way past Percy and Annabeth, waving hello to Percy. Percy smiled and returned Chris' wave.

He then turned to Clarisse who looked nothing like she had when he saw her last. Her previously lank stringy, unkept hair was now groomed and fell in waves over her face and shoulders. Percy had never seen her pay special attention to her physical features like this before and he surmised that it was a by-product of her dating Chris.

He had never paid close attention to her face, and with a start, realized that Clarisse was quite pretty underneath the ferocious glare and her normally grumpy, gruff demeanor. She stalked over and without warning punched Percy in the stomach. The demigod doubled up trying to ease the ache in his abdomen. Percy did have rock hard muscles, but Clarisse's punch wasn't anything to scoff at.

Percy eventually straightened but Clarisse gave him no more breathing room as she got right in his face. "Where the fuck have you been Jackson?" she asked, or rather ordered. She was beyond furious, it seemed, and her hair was starting to become slightly frazzled.

Before Percy could answer, Clarisse spoke again. "Do you have any idea of what you've put me… us through? We thought you fucking died, we burnt a shroud for you! I mourned for a companion, a fellow warrior and above all... a … a friend." Here, her voice broke slightly, before she continued determinedly. "Couldn't you have at least told us before disappearing like that?"

"Clary" he began, causing her to send him a death glare. She had always hated the nickname, Percy thought fondly before continuing. "C'mon you know me better than that. Would I have left without informing anyone if I had thought that there was a way I could get to meet you guys before I left?" he asked.

Clarisse shook her head emphatically in answer to his question and most of the anger in her eyes disappeared, having not thought of it like this before, being the impulsive daughter of Ares that she was.

She however, was not to be deterred from asking questions and getting answers, just because Percy had said that he had not had a choice, so she asked. "Well, you're back now, apparently, so tell me where you've be and what you've been doing."

Percy grinned at the familiar impetuous attitude of the daughter of Ares and could not resist teasing her. "Uhuh, Clary, you'll have to wait till the evening" he said cheekily, omitting telling her that he had called a meeting of his friends and Chiron at the mentioned time so that he could explain everything.

Clarisse narrowed her eyes and her hand automatically went to Maimer, her spear, which was presently crackling slightly with red energy. She made to point it menacingly at Percy, who raised his hands in surrender and told her about the meeting, to which she nodded grudgingly.

"Guess beating you up will have to wait until later Prissy" she said, an unspoken challenge to fight behind her words.

Percy smiled slightly at his nickname and nodded, accepting. "You're on, Clary."

"Where's Grover?" Percy questioned, looking at both Clarisse and Annabeth in turn. It was Clarisse who answered, beating Annabeth by about half a second.

"Well, since he's now the Lord of the Wild, he's away all the time. Protecting the wild, gathering the Satyrs, assigning tasks to them."

Annabeth frowned slightly, then looked up with a slight shimmer in her grey eyes, something which Percy knew meant that she had concluded regarding something or had realized something or other.

He was proven right a moment later as Annabeth spoke. "Shouldn't you be able to sense him and communicate with him because of your empathy link?"

The empathy link had been removed from him, along with the blessing of the Styx, when Percy had crossed the borders of camp Jupiter. That was the conclusion he had come to, and it had been proved by Reyna when he asked, and she told him that it was a protection measure, put in place by Terminus.

"Yeah, just one of the many things I have to explain to you guys" he said, before looking at the sun's position. He suddenly realized how much time he and Annabeth had spent rounding up his friends at camp. The sun had gone below the horizon and was now sending its last faint rays towards the earth.

From his lessons from Lupa, he knew that it was around 5:45, nearing the time the meeting had been set at. He pointed this out to his companions who were slightly surprised at his observation. Of course, neither of them knew of his time with Lupa, and her training.

"I'll explain in a bit" he said, seeing the questioning looks on their faces. He began to lead the way to the big house, Clarisse and Annabeth flanking him in the left and right, respectively.

On the way, Percy was reminded of another person he had to reunite with. "Guys, where's Rachel?" he asked his two companions, referring to Rachel Elizabeth Dare, a mortal with clear sight who had become a close friend of Percy's and had helped the through many a quest. After the battle where Kronos was vanquished, she had become Apollo's oracle and now recited prophecies.

It was Annabeth who answered. "Rachel started Clarion Ladies Academy, you know, the one her father wanted her to join?"

Percy nodded, slightly disappointed that he could not meet her for a while.

As they neared the big house, the lights came on, just as the sun disappeared, to bring light to another part of the world while the moon took its place, shining a bright silver. Percy sighed at the passive beauty of the moon. It did not try to outshine everything such as the sun, and gave off a somehow calming, soothing aura. At least to Percy.

He was brought back to earth when the big house loomed right in front of them. The trio entered and made their way to the war room, or rather, the recreation room that was used for conferences like this. The room was large enough to host all the counselors comfortably, even the ones from the minor gods cabins. In the middle was a Ping-Pong table, around which the summoned counselors were currently seated. Percy looked around and noticed that everyone was there, barring Connor and Travis.

The dynamic duo arrived just a few moments after Percy and his two friends had taken seats and exchanged greetings with the others. After the twins were seated comfortably, Percy stood up.

"So, guys, as you've probably noticed, I've been away for a while" he started rather lamely.

The twins broke into sniggers at his words and some of the councilors hid smiles behind their hands. Annabeth looked at Percy with a look that clearly said "Really, seaweed-brain?" Clarisse, unable to contain her sarcasm, muttered "No shit, Prissy" at which the room broke into suppressed laughter. Even Chiron looked on with an amused smile on his face.

Percy threw up his hands dramatically and glared at everyone irritably. Of course, it was an act, one which the others saw through at once. "You guys wanted to hear where I've been and what I've been doing, but I guess it can wait. I'll just go" he said with a barely suppressed smirk, as he started walking to the door.

A chorus of "I'm sorry!" rang throughout the room and Percy returned to his original place, grinning triumphantly. "Okay, so, it started when I asked Annabeth's mother, Athena for permission to court her daughter..."

He went on to explain what tests Annabeth's mother, Athena, had devised for him. He spoke of all the tasks in detail. When he got to the final task where he had to battle Ladon, a collective gasp issued forth from the demigods occupying the room.

They listened in awe as he explained the fight in detail. He got to the part when he returned and was visited by two major goddesses. He told the present demigods about the next prophecy, and how it mentioned the uniting of both camps to win the next war. He explained the presence of camp Jupiter, a camp for the gods Roman children, also telling the others about the two different aspects of the gods, based on how the Romans portrayed them.

He glossed over the event where Annabeth dumped him as he noticed her wince and look dejected, amid the outcry of sympathy from his friends. He told them of how his parents had been killed and had to stop for a minute as he found he could not seem to speak. When he told everyone of the blessings he had received from the two goddesses, the demigods found it hard to contain their surprise and it was apparent on all their faces. He sped over the powers given to him, mentioning only a weak fire manipulation skill from Hestia and an ability to detect the strength of bonds between two people from Hera. He did not know why but something held him back from telling his assembled friends about all the powers.

He went on to his training with Lupa, not going into explicit detail and not mentioning the fight they had had. He spoke of entering camp Jupiter and his induction ceremony, not going into too much detail. When he spoke of the new friends he had gained, a faraway look came into his eyes and he visibly saddened, his shoulders drooping down before he gained control of his emotions and stopped himself from showing the public display of emotion.

He told them of the war games and Octavian's grudge against him. He told them of when Octavian turned a good part of the legion against him and called for the Senate meeting. When his friends were informed of the obviously unjust dismissal which had come about just because of Octavian's influence, they were outraged.

Percy looked around the room with a slight smile, after seeing that his friends seemed ready to jump up right there and teach the Romans, particularly Octavian a hard lesson. After the outcries had settled down somewhat, Percy resumed his account.

"Well, I left the camp, and Lady Hestia came to me. She sensed a distortion in my emotions, something she can feel, both through her powers of the hearth and through her bond with me. I told her that I wanted to come back to camp half blood, since my mission to unite the two camps could not continue. Reyna is their praetor, the leader, and she will come to our aid when needed" he explained. "After that Hestia flashed me here and the rest you know" he spoke, concealing the fact that he could flash himself. As before, he felt a sudden urge to not reveal everything about himself, even to his close friends.

After answering the questions that the counselors and Chiron had. Most of the questions were from a curious Annabeth, who hated not knowing something that someone else was privy to. After he had answered the veritable barrage of questions fired at him, Chiron told the present demigods to head over to the dining Pavilion for dinner. Percy realized with a slight inconspicuous start that it was 8:30 pm. The campers had been in the big house for more than 2 hours.

With a shake of his head at losing track of time like that, Percy joined his friends as they headed to the dining pavilion, laughing at each other's often corny jokes. At the dining pavilion the group broke up as the councilors went over to their respective cabin's tables.

Dinner over, everyone departed to their cabins, except for the campers who had guard duty, who headed to the camp's perimeters after donning their armor. There was half an hour left before lights out after which the harpies would leave all their previous tasks and start guarding the camp internally. They would make sure that the campers stayed in their cabins.

Anyone who left their cabins and was found by the harpies would be torn up in seconds and eaten by the harpies. Harpies were creatures of the wind, creations of Zeus. They had the bodies of eagles and their faces were those of women. The had cruel, hawk-like noses and most had brown or black feathers. Their talons were sharp enough to cut through the demigods like a pair of scissors cutting through paper. After this knowledge was imparted to them, demigods rarely ventured outside their cabins after lights out.

Percy however, was not your run of the mill demigod. Instead of returning to his cabin after dinner, he sought out Katie, accompanied by Annabeth, staying true to his promise to catch up. Katie was pleasantly surprised when the two demigods turned up at her garden when she was checking it over one last time before going to bed. They chatted for quite a while, during which Katie unveiled to Percy that along with her own garden, she had been putting a few touches to his cabin. She revealed that the two moonlace flowers he had brought her had reproduced and dispersed seeds in her garden. She had planted 3 of the new flowers in her own garden and three she had planted in Percy's cabin.

Percy thanked her happily, a pleased twinkle in his eyes. Moonlace was his favorite plant, just like Katie's. She waved away his thanks, saying that it was the least she could do, given that he had given her the flowers to begin with.

The trio talked on, enjoying each other's company greatly, since the two girls had not seen Percy for a long time. Not long after, Percy noticed that Katie had begun to yawn, Annabeth following her.

"Okay, it's been a long day, and you two need your beauty sleep" Percy said teasingly.

The two girls glared at him in mock indignation, which he ignored completely.

"Isn't that just an excuse to get away from us so you can go to bed yourself?" Katie shot back after a moment.

Percy simply grinned, offering no reply. If he was honest with himself, he was a little tired, actually, because of the mentally tiring day. It had been filled by emotional moment after emotional moment. Percy got to his feet and pulled Annabeth to hers before doing the same for Katie.

"Thanks for the chat Percy, I'm glad your back. Gnight" she said earnestly.

"I'm glad I'm back as well. Night, melon head, see you tomorrow" Percy answered. Katie huffed irritably at the nickname though Percy knew it was an act. She then headed to her cabin a few yards away.

Percy escorted Annabeth to her cabin and the two said goodnight to each other before Annabeth too entered her cabin, waving once to Percy before shutting the door behind her again. Percy started walking to his own cabin, hands in the pockets of his shorts.

He entered his cabin for the first time in a while and happily saw that almost everything was as he left it. Poseidon's cabin was low, long, and solid, with all the windows facing the sea, through which the moon could be seen, sending a beautiful silver light of an ethereal quality onto the surface of the lake. The outer walls were rough gray stone with pieces of seashell and coral that looked like the bottom of the ocean floor. On the inside, it had six empty bunk beds and the walls glowed like the insides of abalone. Percy fondly looked at the small fountain that Poseidon had added in the cabin after Percy and Tyson had returned from the quest for the golden fleece.

The fountain was made from gray sea rock, had a fish that spouted the water from its mouth, and a coral decoration. The bottom was filled with golden drachmas for Iris messages. There were little decorative hippocampi and other sea creatures that Tyson had added on the walls and the ceilings.

The plants that he had placed in a small box on one of the windowsills were still alive, which Percy figured was due to someone, probably Katie, caring for them. He did notice, however, that there were a few changes. There were a couple potted orchids and petunias in the corners of the room, brightening it up.

Most breathtaking, however, was the sight of the small wooden flower box, in which there were three moonlace flowers. They were an awe-inspiring sight, made even more spectacular and wondrous because of it being nighttime, with the moon shining directly upon them. They gave off luminescence of their own as their petals were fully open, catching as much moonlight as possible and throwing a comforting silver light into the room. The flower box was placed in the windowsill of the biggest window, on the inside.

Percy hung his duffle bag from one of the hooks above the small table, beside his old bed. He settled in and looked in wonder at the moonlace for as long as he could before his eyes drooped and sleep claimed him for its own.

The sun's first rays intruding into Percy's cabin through the windows woke him up instantly. He sat up and stretched, almost perfectly imitating a cat that has just woken from a nap. After taking a bracing cold shower and donning new clothes -a sea green t shirt and a black pair of nylon jogging pants- left the room, taking his weapons with him, wanting to get in some training before the other campers woke up.

He was walking towards the forest, over to the river where could practice his water skills as well when he heard a commotion at the camp's border. The cause of the commotion was hidden by one of the cabins which blocked his view. Percy hastily moved around the cabin to see what was wrong. Just about 100 ft. away a large group of about 75-80 monsters was attacking two lone demigods.

From this distance Percy saw that one of the demigods had blonde hair while the other one had black hair. The two were fighting furiously against the onslaught of monsters, desperately trying to stay alive. The blonde-haired boy suddenly raised a spear and a lightning bolt fell from the sky, hitting a group of monsters hard and obliterating 10 of them on the spot. Percy deduced that the blonde demigod was a son of Zeus, probably Jason Grace. Percy noticed that the powerful demigod moves seemed to have weakened him as he was now leaning on his spear slightly while the black-haired boy did what he could to give him room to breathe, twin hammers in his hands as he used brute force to knock back the monsters. Suddenly, the boy's hammers lit on fire, surprising Percy.

"A fire using son of Hephaestus" he muttered. "Been a while since one of those has shown up."

Even though both demigods were fighting valiantly, it was clear to Percy that they were soon going to fall to the superior numbers of the monsters. All this he noticed in a split second as he sprang into action, twisting the white and black ring on his finger.

The bow Hestia and Hera had given all those months ago materialized into his hands in the space of a split second. The bow looked as deadly as ever, dangerous looking spikes protruding from the end, and obsidian black designs etched into the white Olympian silver, edged with orange.

Whilst running, he put his fingers on the bowstring and an arrow materialized. It was jet black and had three fletches. The point was sharpened to perfection and the shaft was perfectly balanced, increasing the accuracy, much like the hunters' arrows, except for the colors.

From a distance of 60-70 feet, he drew the arrow back and let it fly. It snaked through the air and buried itself into the neck of an empousa that had been about to drive a sword into the black-haired demigod's back. The empousa looked surprised for a split second before her body crumbled into golden dust. More arrows followed the first one as Percy released arrows as fast as he could. Many assorted empousai, cyclopes, dracaenae and laistrygonian giants fell to Percy arrows barely having the time to look surprised at the arrows protruding through their bodies before bursting into dust.

The two demigods, after seeing help had arrived, struck with renewed force. Percy, whilst running took about 20 monsters down with the grace, accuracy, and speed of a seasoned hunter, each of his shot arrows hitting home and killing a monster. When he was a scant 15 feet away from the monsters, Percy twisted his ring again and the bow disappeared.

Percy now uncapped riptide and the sword grew to its full length, shimmering in the early morning sun, a sea green sheen exuding form it. Percy plowed right into the side of the contingent of monsters. He swung his sword with pinpoint precision, cutting the head clean off one of the Giants and then swinging around and burying his sword into the stomach of a dracaena before the monsters even knew he was there.

He continued his skilled attack, smacking a cyclops in the face with the hilt of his sword before stabbing him in the stomach. Gracefully, he spun out of the way of an incoming blade just as a telekhine swiped his sword at its back.

The telekhine's sword nicked his back, making a light cut. He spun his sword in a complete 360° circle at head height, and both the monster found themselves minus their heads, just a second later. Out of the corner of his eyes, Percy saw a cyclops about to bring his club down onto the blonde demigod's head, a maneuver that would have crushed his head and killed him on the spot.

Without sparing a second to think, Percy threw Anaklusmos with all his might, taking care to be accurate as well. The sword struck the cyclops right in the head and buried itself up to the hilt before the monster vanished into a cloud of dust and riptide fell to the ground with a dull 'thunk'.

Percy drew his knives from his belt and altered his stance slightly, as his current stance was for sword fighting, allowing him to deal out longer ranged melee blows, something which he could not do with the hunting knives because they simply did not have the reach of the sword.

His current stance allowed him to dart in close to an adversary, incapacitate him quickly and move on. He did just that, getting extremely up close and personal to a telekhine where the superior reach of the monsters' spear did him no favors.

He slashed the knife vertically up, all but shredding the telekhine into two due in large part to the Olympian silver, which was much sharper then normal celestial bronze. He moved swiftly and fought as precisely as a surgeon performing an operation.

Each slash, stab and whirl of his hunting knives felled an opponent and he left a wake of dead monsters behind. Percy employed the 360° move Lupa had taught him. He began spinning so fast that the light from his knives left after images as he spun in a literal arc of destruction, cleaving through the monsters' ranks.

He came out of the 360° fairly quickly, knowing that his opponents might figure out how to counter the move. It was extremely unlikely that they would, but Percy was not taking any chances. He then willed a spinning mass of water to from around the outer line of the monsters. The monsters were swept up by the torrent of water furiously rushing in a circle, going to the very top of the veritable 30-foot wall of water before they were spat out at high speeds. They fell to their deaths as the fall coupled with the extreme speed of their descent crushed the very bones in the bodies.

Percy stopped when there were only 15 or so monsters remaining. The move, although effective was very taxing on Percy. He declined to use his fully charged fire powers even though he knew he could finish the fight almost instantly by combining his fire and water powers, something which he had figured out how to do.

Instead, he willed some of the water to solidify and to form into numerous deadly spikes which he sent into the bodies of the monsters like bullets from a machine gun. Not more than half a minute later, all the monsters had been reduced to dust.

Percy stalked over to riptide and capped it, returning it to its pen form and sheathed his knives in a smooth, well practiced move. He then turned towards the two demigods to get a closer look.

The blonde demigod that he thought was Jason Grace was extremely tall, about an inch taller than Percy. He was handsome and somehow reminded Percy of the regal features of a Roman statue. He had sky blue eyes, short, close-cropped blond hair, and a small scar on the corner of his lip.

Percy saw that Jason did not look anything at all like Zeus except for the color of his eyes. He had an athletic build and well-muscled and tanned arms and legs. There was a Roman tattoo on his arm. It depicted an eagle in flight with its wings outstretched and talons extended; the symbol of Zeus. SPQR and 10 lines were on his arm, indicating he had been at Camp Jupiter since he was 6 or 7 years old.

The other demigod next to Jason had curly black hair, dark brown eyes, pointy ears, a cheerful, elf-like face, with a mischievous and impish smile on his face and a diminutive stature with a slim and relatively scrawny build. He was about 5'6, Percy judged. His most notable trait, however, was that he had a look in his eyes that made him look like he had taken much more caffeine then the normal limit. His hands fidgeted here and there constant, opening, and closing as if trying to grip something. Although, not as handsome as Jason, he was rather cute in a scrawny, untidy way.

Currently Jason was conversing with the unknown demigod in a hushed whisper, and from his worried look, Percy deduced that he was asking his companion if he was all right. After receiving a nod from the Latino looking demigod, he approached Percy.

"Your aid could not have come at a better time, friend. I am in your debt." His voice was formal and smooth, like a river flowing undeterred.

Percy waved the demigods words away. "It wasn't a problem. I was looking for a good morning workout anyways, and I found a suitable one."

Accepting this with a nod, Jason came forwards and held out his hand. "I am Jason Grace, son of Ju…Zeus, and my companion is Leo Valdés, son of Hephaestus" he said, formally introducing himself and the other demigod.

"Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and Neptune" he said, drawing a confused look from both demigods.

Percy grasped his hand, noting that Jason had a pleasantly firm handshake, not too strong and not too weak. On the other side, Jason was thinking the same, both demigods oblivious to the fact that the exact same thoughts were running around in their heads.

The other demigod, now identified as Leo Valdés came forward and held out his hand shyly. Percy noticed the look of undisguised awe in his eyes and the dumbfounded expression on his face. He glanced at Jason and saw that although he hid it well, behind the neutral expression, Jason too was stupefied, awed and even somewhat scared.

Percy shook it off and shook Leo's hand. "Judging from your expressions, you want to know how I fought them off."

Leo's head bobbed up and down, reminding Percy of the cartoon character 'Noddy', who's head was attached to a spring. Jason too, gave him a stately nod. Before beginning, Percy turned to Jason, and asked "Do you remember Camp Jupiter and your old life?"

Jason looked at him in surprise, before nodding somewhat unsurely. "I get like flashes of memories, but I never fully see anything. I remember that I'm Roman and the son of Jupiter. I have… had a sister, but that memory is blurry" he counted off on his fingers.

Percy nodded. He decided that he would try and give Jason his memory back. If he could make Jason see enough memories of Camp Jupiter at one time all together, it had a moderately good chance of triggering a memory relapse in Jason. He then concluded that he could call upon Lady Hera and ask her if she could break the block on Jason's memory. He tried reaching out to her through their shared mental link but detected several distortions. He frowned in slight confusion, but then pushed the matter aside for the present.

He turned to Jason. "Jason, if you would allow me, I would like to try and give you your memories back. I am not a 100% certain of what after affects you may experience. That said, I am confident that this may work" Percy said, leaving it up to Jason to decide what he wanted.

A hopeful look came into Jason's eyes. "By all means, go ahead. Anything to get my memory back" he said, rather earnestly.

Percy nodded, accepting Jason's decision. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were glowing a bright, blinding white, prompting Leo to close his eyes. Jason, however, stared right back into Percy's eyes as if transfixed.

Suddenly, Percy's eyes returned to their normal sea green and Jason fell to the ground, his body spasming slightly. Leo looked on worriedly, hoping his friend would be okay. Percy's emotions were hidden behind his usual mask, betraying none of his inner emotions.

Abruptly Jason shot up into a sitting position, his eyes unclouded. Anxiously, Percy and Leo waited for him to speak, which he did after few seconds of momentary confusion.

"It… it worked. I remember everything. Camp Jupiter, I was the praetor. Octavian, augur" he said somewhat incoherently. Percy made no indication of surprise however, knowing that this would be normal since Jason's brain was now overflowing with memories and he had to sort through them. He explained this to Leo, who nodded in relief.

After Jason's -for lack of a better word- ramblings had stopped, he turned to Percy with slight confusion. "Percy, why do I see flashes and memories of you in camp Jupiter?"

Percy looked pleased before answering. "I transferred my memories of camp Jupiter and my training with Lupa to you as well, so that I won't have to explain my presence in both camps. I also imparted my knowledge of the prophecy to you, seeing as you are the leader of Camp Jupiter."

Jason nodded in understanding. "How's everyone at camp doing?" he asked.

"Everyone is perfectly fine. Well, everyone except Octavian. I had to beat him up" Percy said with a feral smile, an expression which was mirrored on Jason's face. "And Reyna sends you her regards."

"I'm starting to like you, cousin" Jason smirked. Percy nodded, smiling.

Leo had been trying to make sense of the conversation, clearly confused. Upon noticing this, the two cousins filled him in. They started heading over to the dining pavilion for breakfast, as it was almost 7 o'clock, and campers would be getting up.

On the way the demigods talked about random topics, the two cousins laughing at Leo's animated antics. Jason explained the quest he and Leo had been on to Percy. It hadn't really been very complicated, just a slight recon mission to Mount Tam, to check on the situation there. Chiron had wanted to make sure that the titan fortress was still demobilized and dormant.

Unknowingly, the two had been followed by a monster brigade who had begun to catch up a couple days before. Jason and Leo had evaded the monsters until, just a mile outside camp, when the monsters caught up and launched an attack. Thankfully Percy had showed up in the nick of time.

At the dining pavilion, most demigods were present, having breakfast. The trio went over to Chiron at the head table and seeing Jason, some of the other councilors left their breakfasts and came to hear his debriefing.

Chiron was happy to hear about the status of the titan fortress, which was not much more than rubble, thanks to the Romans who had attacked it while the Greeks defended Manhattan simultaneously against Kronos.

His eyebrows nearly went all the way into his hair as Jason recounted the monster attack. All the present councilors had looks of shock and awe on their faces when they heard about how Percy had obliterated most of the army, and then shrugged off Jason's gratitude as if it was nothing.

"He really is one of the greatest demigods to ever have lived, maybe even THE greatest" Chiron thought to himself. Breaking out of his thoughts, he told the assembled demigod councilors to go back to their breakfasts and they complied.

Barely had Percy taken his seat at the Poseidon table when there was a sudden bright flash of light…

So, chapter 6 is done !

Yeah yeah, I'm evil, I know, slight cliff hanger there….. you guys were pleased with the fight scene, I hope …. I haven't really seen a real fight scene, so I had to imagine it all….

This one was 9.5k words long, good enough, yeah? I hope you liked it !

Review, follow and favorite.

Seriously guys, do it… give me suggestions in the reviews and I'll try and incorporate them as best as I can.

Peace out, folks ! HOA11 out


	7. Chapter 7

**Heyyy homies! What's good? How's it going!? I know it's been a while, and I really do apologize for that. My absence was due to a long string of events, mostly family suffering and then exams. I really hope you haven't abandoned the fan fiction.**

 **That said, you guys have fun reading this! I hope it's got the right blend of interaction and action. Comment, follow and favorite! Happy reading, guys.**

 **Disclaimer: The situation hasn't changed. I still don't own the PJO universe, I'm just messing around in Rick's playpen.**

 **Chapter 7**

Percy had barely taken his seat at the Poseidon table when there was a sudden bright flash of light that heralded the arrival of an Olympian deity. Everyone but Percy, who by now was used to the sudden flashes of light from the Gods' flashing, shielded their eyes with varying expressions of discomfort.

When the demigods recovered somewhat, they chanced looking up and saw that it was lady Hestia. As one, all the campers bowed deeply, Chiron included. Hestia barely acknowledged the bows with a short nod and said "Rise, all of you."

Percy tilted his head in masked befuddlement at Hestia's manner of speaking and markedly harried demeanor. Her face too was a mask of worry and unease. The cause of her current state was soon explained as she made her next proclamation.

"Lady Hera, queen of the gods, consort of Zeus has been captured."

Whispers spread like wildfire around the dining pavilion as the demigods conversed with their neighbors in hushed, worried voices. If something or someone was strong enough, or daring enough to capture the queen of the gods, what was to stop them from attacking and laying waste to camp half blood?

Suddenly the murmurs of the panicked demigods stopped as they noticed an awe-inspiring spectacle that stopped them in their tracks. Visible to all, Percy Jackson had arisen from his table and stepped a few get away.

That in itself was not what had captured everyone's attention. Gusts of wind were blowing at breakneck speeds, almost invisible. Stormy black thunder clouds were accumulating right above Percy as the wind continued to spin at a cyclone-like speed, and with the same intensity.

Percy was veritably in the eye of his personal hurricane. The wind was so powerful that it was starting to draw the plates of food into its middle, before spitting them out. The nymphs suddenly appeared and vanished all the plates before the cutlery flying at high speeds caused bodily harm to the gathered demigods. Percy's eyes, however, were the most magnificent sight of all. The twin pools of sea green were morphing slightly, to the point where it looked like his eyes were twin balls of raging flames. His orbs were shining brightly with power coupled with rage.

Hate, anger, grief and fury were rolling off of him in torrential waves as he started to lose control of his powers. Then, something happened, something which stupefied the demigods, rendering them tongue-tied.

Lady Hestia, the oldest and one of the most powerful Olympians had gone to stand right in front of Percy as he lost control of himself because of the whirlwind of emotions inside him and had put her hand on his shoulders. Her own comforting orange eyes focused on the hard sea green ones of the son of Poseidon.

Hestia knew that if Percy let his power loose, camp half blood could well be obliterated. As for the demigods, there would not even be an indication that over two hundred demigods had been present in the area just recently.

Coming to this realization, Hestia went to Percy, put her hand on his shoulders so that he turned to face her and looked deep into his eyes. She mentally flinched at the wild storm of emotions in the young man. The capture of Hera had shaken him much more than she believed it would. She idly wondered if he would react the same way if she was captured, but then mentally berated herself for losing focus.

She sent bursts of soothing hope into him, trying to calm him down. The calm aura resonating off her gave off a familiar, soothing ambience, creating an atmosphere of home, where one was most comfortable and familiarized with his or her surroundings.

Slowly but surely, Percy eyes dimmed until they were almost back to their normal piercing sea green color. The storm too, abated and the sun pierced through the clouds once again. The winds stopped howling in rage and Percy visibly relaxed.

He looked into Hestia's calm, caring eyes and gave her a nod of gratitude and even tried to smile, something which he was unsuccessful at doing. His eyes previously filled with rage and anguish were now controlled. His eyes now portrayed how serious he was, his laid-back attitude all but forgotten.

"Who took her?" he questioned through gritted teeth, signifying that he was barely restraining himself from losing control again.

Hestia answered softly, to the surprise of the campers who had expected the Olympian deity to vaporize Percy on the spot for his supposed 'arrogance while interacting with her'.

"Gaea is reawakening, sooner rather than later. She is at this moment unable to physically manifest, but with the help of her son, Porphyrion, who has arisen once more, and the power she will leech from Hera while she is captured might well be enough to revive her. Porphyrion is the king of the Giants, the sons of Gaea. He was created solely to oppose Zeus, just as all of the other gigantes were created to oppose a certain Olympian deity." Hestia explained.

Percy nodded in comprehension, eyes glowing again slightly as he digested the information without a blink. "I'm going to save her" he stated bluntly, looking at Hestia.

Hestia gave him a proud smile as she spoke. "I knew you'd say that. I had an alternate reason for coming to camp as well, something which concerns you as well as Jason Grace."

At hearing his name, Jason broke out of his awe induced stupor and moved towards Percy and Hestia, stopping slightly behind Percy. Percy tilted his head questioningly, silently urging Hestia to continue.

The Goddess in question smiled to herself at Percy's obvious impatience to get out in the field and save Hera. The queen of the Gods had become Percy's surrogate mother in the short time they had spent together, and she was happy both for Percy and for her sister. Both could do with a little more love in their lives.

"A prophecy was issued directly by Apollo. It says that "The sons of the sky and sea will unite to save the queen of the gods and bring cessation to the machinations of the earth."

"Clear enough" Percy commented, receiving a nod from Hestia. "So, me and Jason have got to find lady Hera and put a stop to Porphyrion's, and by extension, Gaea's plan. Where do we find her though? Isn't there a clue pertaining to that in the prophecy?" he asked, flummoxed.

Hestia smiled, both at his brash, impulsive attitude and his intuition at having figured it out so quickly, even though the prophecy was not all that complicated. "Hera is being held in the wolf house, or so the prophecy said. I trust you both know of it?" she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Both demigods nodded in affirmation. Percy remembered the wolf house quite clearly as Lupa had shown it to him and he would go there often, as it was a temple dedicated to the wolf goddess.

"You will depart at dawn tomorrow. Be safe, and good luck." The last phrase was directed at both Percy and Jason. She then grasped Percy's arm in farewell and he smiled at her reassuringly, wanting to silently convey that he would be alright and would bring Hera back as well as soon as possible.

She nodded once, giving him another warm smile in reply, then extending the smile to Jason who weakly tried to return it but failed. Then, abruptly, there was a flash, causing the stupefied demigods to snap to their senses and shut their eyes against the bright glare.

When they were feeling somewhat better, some of the demigods went back to their dinner, still frazzled by the events of the last few minutes. Many started whispered conversations with their respective cabin mates, discussing the events of the past few minutes. Most of the demigods wore anxious, worried looks. A few of them, namely Percy's friends and Leo, crowded around him and Jason, pestering them with questions, Annabeth chief amongst them.

Percy answered all the questions as well as he could, deflecting those that he thought were too uncomfortable to answer, such as his bond with Hera, and the intimate gestures Hestia showed him. He did explain, however, that the quest that had been issued to him and Jason to save the Queen of the Gods. Jason made interjections where he remembered certain details that Percy missed.

It seemed that Percy's friends were on good terms with the son of Jupiter -they were pretty open around him- if not outright friendly. Percy was happy to note this since he had taken a quick liking to Jason. The son of Jupiter reminded him of someone whom he just couldn't seem to place at the very moment but was very familiar nonetheless.

He shrugged it off, however, as he noticed that his friends had stopped their impromptu inquisition of the two demigods. Annabeth and Katie suggested a picnic on the beach later, something which everyone agreed to heartily.

The teens spent the rest of the day in each other's company, being carefree for once and losing themselves to a fantasy world where there was no threat of a war, a monster invasion and/or a fear inducing, doom entailing prophecy.

Percy grinned happily as he watched his friends, Jason and Leo now added to the list, fool around, often laughing at Leo's antics, coupled with the hilarious pranks pulled by the Stoll brothers.

Annabeth spent most of the time right at his side, looking reluctant to leave him for even a while, fearing that he would disappear again, this time for good. Unconsciously, she prayed to all the deities she could think of to let Percy come back unharmed.

The reunited couple grew closer as time went on. Finally, when, tired out, some of the demigods began to yawn, setting the rest off as well. The gathering broke up with most of the demigods returning to their cabins after wishing Percy and Jason farewell and good luck. Annabeth and Katie, however hung back, staying behind Percy, while Leo did the same with Jason.

Annabeth wasted no time in dragging Percy off to a side, before speaking. "Listen, seaweed-brain. I'm not going to say goodbye, okay?" she asked sternly. "You do what you have to do as quickly as you can and come back to us… to me." Her voice broke slightly, but she pushed on, intending to get her two drachmas in. "It'd really suck if I had to raise you from the dead and kill you again" she said, a hint of a threat in her words.

Percy was not intimidated by Annabeth's words, but he had the good grace to lower his head slightly and nod meekly. "Yes ma'am. Will do" he spoke in a corny western drawl, making Annabeth punch his arm, causing him to cradle his arm to his chest while muttering "Damn, woman, go easy" making her smirk victoriously.

She then stepped close to him and without warning, kissed him deeply. She wanted to convey all her love for him in that one gesture and was successful, it seemed, if Percy's blissful expression was anything to go by.

He returned the kiss just as passionately and Annabeth felt her toes curling from the power of the kiss. She felt her knees go weak and was sure that she would have fallen to the ground had Percy not been holding her up.

They finally broke the kiss after what seems to a couple hours but had actually only been a minute or so. They rejoined Jason, Leo and Katie, and had to endure a seemingly endless period of catcalls and teasing.

After good naturedly throwing a few return barbs at the three mainly revolving around their absolute lack of love life, Annabeth yawned widely and admitted she was sleepy, having gotten up early to work on a project on Daedalus' computer. The quartet bid her goodnight and she replied in kind before kissing Percy one last time and then heading to her cabin, with a final backwards wave.

Next, Katie came up to Percy and hugged him tightly, tears brimming in her eyes at the thought of losing her surrogate brother again. "Do I need to remind you what will happen of you do not return unscathed and soon?" she asked threateningly, even though the underlying smile belied her true feelings.

"No, melon head, you don't. I've received enough warnings in one day to last me a few lifetimes" Percy groaned.

"Well that's cuz everyone is afraid of losing you again, so soon after you returned" she explained, shaking her head at his ability to not see what was right in front of him.

Percy scratched his neck ruefully, without speaking, words not being necessary to convey his embarrassment and sheepishness at not having thought of something that obvious.

The others snickered, with Katie in full blown peals of laughter. Percy mock glared at her, causing her to laugh all the harder. When the laughter finally subsided to a manageable degree, Katie spoke.

"I'll miss you all the same, kelp-head" she said seriously, looking straight into his eyes.

Percy looked right back, gaze unflinching, meeting her determined, pleading look with one of reassurance. Katie drew him into another meaningful hug, one which he returned with equal ferocity and vigor.

She broke the hug and Percy noticed that she was borderline crying, holding in the oncoming deluge with difficulty. She waved to Jason and then turned her back to the remaining three demigods and headed to her cabin, discreetly wiping at her eyes.

Percy too had to fight off a wave of sadness that suddenly threatened to overwhelm him. Internally, Percy felt that he was letting his friends down and, in a way, betraying them by leaving so soon after arriving in the first place. He knew that this was not true, it was something that had to be done, he was in no way at fault, but he couldn't seem to shake of the sudden feeling of guilt.

Now it was only Jason and Leo left on the beach. After exchanging a few words of farewell with Jason, Leo said goodbye to Percy, and with a final cheery wave, headed back to his cabin, positively bouncing, despite the day's events.

Jason smiled fondly at Leo's departing back, mirroring the expression on Percy's face. It was almost impossible to not like Leo for his positive outlook on his life and his corny antics and jokes. Moreover, Percy had quickly surmised with some help from the powers given to him by Hera that Leo was of the best friends a person could ask for. He was a good companion, loyal, handy in times of need and a compassionate, humble soul.

When it was just Percy and Jason left, Jason turned to Percy, all vestiges of his carefree attitude forgotten, as Percy's demeanor changed in the same way. It was amazing how the two cousins were so alike, almost seeming to mirror each other's habits as if they had been living together their whole life, even though they had met barely 12 hours ago.

"So, how are we going to get to the wolf house?" Jason asked.

"I've got that bit covered, Jase" Percy smirked mischievously, wanting to surprise his cousin with his newfound skill of flashing to chosen destinations. "You just focus on staying alive once we get there. I expect some heavy opposition, cuz it's not like Porphyrion is going to leave the place wide open for us to simply waltz in" Percy said briskly, brief and to the point.

Jason nodded outwardly, a grim expression on his face. "Maybe we could come up with a combined storm move using our powers. I saw that when you had your little.. Err.. episode, the winds picked up and clouds gathered" he said, somewhat uncomfortable. Percy seemed to take it in stride, nodding for him to go on. "Well, I never knew children of Poseidon could do that. I reckon we could create a pretty powerful storm if we tried" Jason shrugged, waiting to hear Percy's opinion.

"Well, first off, I discovered that I had the power to control wind a while back. I figure it's because of the water vapor in the air. I can bend it to my will and if I choose to, make it go in a certain direction, fast enough to create powerful gusts of wind" Percy explained. "I agree that we should try to combine our powers in some way though. Give them something to think about." At this, a feral smile appeared on his face while a similar predatory smile appeared on Jason's aristocratic visage.

The two continued to plan for a few minutes, and after agreeing to meet at the volleyball courts at dawn, the two headed over to their respective cabins, resolving to get some sleep after the tiring day both had had.

As Percy entered his cabin and lay down on his bunk, he felt a knot form in his stomach. Suddenly, his head was filled by a powerful voice, the owner unseen. The vocalization, to Percy at least, seemed to belong to a bygone age that had been left behind millennia ago.

"Perseus Jackson" the voice rumbled, seeming to resonate around the whole room, sending vibrations up Percy's spine.

"Who's there? Where are you?" he asked sharply, already fearing the answer.

"Oh, I think you already know who I am" said the mysterious voice.

"Gaea?" Percy asked apprehensively.

"Right in one, savior of Olympus" came the answer.

"What do you want with me?" Percy asked, full of questions.

"I would like for you to join me and command one of my armies. As a demigod who has access to both camps, you would be an invaluable asset."

"What makes you think I would join you?" Percy queried.

"Oh, I could make it worth your while" came the reply. I would spare your friends, and anybody else you asked me to. You could have riches, wealth, power, all you could ask for" the voice said with a hint of smugness to it, no doubt thinking that Percy had been convinced.

That was why the primordial goddess was surprised when Percy laughed hollowly. "Lady, I don't want money or power. I just wanna be a normal demigod, albeit one who has saved Olympus from Kronos. My friends would freaking kill me if I joined you under the excuse of protecting them. So, my answer is a no. Be assured that I will be coming for your forces with all I've got" he said, adding a menacing tinge to his last sentence.

The rumbling bass tone that Gaea had used previously disappeared, a threatening tone now being added to it, sending chills up Percy's spine, even though he hid it admirably. "You will regret your choice, son of Poseidon. I will take every last thing that you hold dear and crush it, this I swear."

Percy did not let fear overpower him, keeping his head clear, gathering his power. He called upon all the mind powers given to him through Hera and called upon them to expel the primordial earth goddess from his mind.

Normally it would've taken at least a primordial to wrest control of their mind from Gaea, but at the moment, given her weakened state, she was but a shade of what she was at full power, or when she had a manifest physical form.

"Good luck with that" Percy said, literally lathering his words in sarcasm.

He released the full amount of the power that had built up with him and a flash of light passed through him, or more accurately, through his brain, since the conversation had not been ongoing in the physical plane.

With an eerie, ear shatteringly loud wail, the imposing aura of dark power disappeared from his brain, and Percy was brought out of the metaphorical room in his mind into his cabin. He fell onto his bed, panting in exhaustion. It had taken every last drop of power him to expel Gaea from his mind and he shuddered to think how he would succeed if the malicious earth goddess was in a physical form.

He had no time to dwell on anything else however, as exhaustion -brought on by his sudden discharge of power- caused him to, quite literally, drop off to sleep, as he fell on his bed face first.

However, even the immense fatigue Percy had experienced just a short time prior did not deter him from getting up just as the sun peeked over the sea and light infiltrated the demigod's cabin through the large window which, at present, housed the moonlace that Katie had given to him.

He spared himself a few short seconds to look fondly at the flowers before his mind turned to the matter at hand. Forcing himself to get out of bed, he quickly took a shower and headed out of his cabin to meet Jason at the volleyball courts.

Percy made his way out of his cabin and headed to the courts. Jason was already present, eyes unfocused, looking off into the distance. Worried, Percy put a hand on Jason's shoulder, breaking him from his reverie.

"Mornin, Perce" Jason said in an attempt at a chipper tone, one that Percy saw through immediately.

"Jason, you can tell me what's up, you know I'm there for ya, we're in this together. It won't help anyone if you go into battle in this state" Percy said in a gentle voice, taking his hand away from Jason's shoulder.

"It's not that I don't trust you Perce, not that at all. The thing is, even I'm a bit confused right now."

"Care to tell me what about?" Percy questioned.

Jason looked up at him, confusion clear in his eyes, and nodded. "There's a memory I can't fully focus on. There's a person… a girl. I know she's my sister, but I can't seem to get my mind around the name, or her face. The image is sorta blurry, know what I mean?"

Percy nodded, a little disappointed. He knew that when he returned Jason's memories, some of them had the chance of being hazy and unclear due to his lack of experience with his mind powers. He explained this to Jason who nodded in understanding.

"Nothing we can do about that, huh?" the blonde demigod asked.

"Well, not before we rescue Hera and she does it for you. The only other way would be some kind of natural stimulus, such as your sister coming face to face with you or something."

"Well, let's hope it happens soon. I have something else to tell you too, Perce." As he spoke, Jason's face took on a worried expression. "Last night, when I returned to my cabin, I had this sorta dream where a…"

"An unseen entity who turned out to be the Primordial earth goddess Gaea turned up?" Percy cut in.

Jason's brows furrowed in bewilderment. "That's exactly right. How did you know?"

"Well, the same thing happened with me" Percy replied, shrugging his shoulders. "She asked you to join her forces, yeah?"

"Mhmm" Jason uttered. "She offered me power and wealth, but I managed to stay in control and turn her down. She threatened me and left not long after that."

"Yep. I had to throw her out of my head though, using my powers" Percy said noncommittally, smirking at Jason's awed look. To put it simply, not everyone could fight a mental battle against the mother of the Earth, although she was in a weakened state and emerge victorious, nonetheless.

"Anyways, Jason, we'd better get going. Oh, by the way, you're gonna catch flies if your mouth stays open just a little longer" before smirking smugly at Jason's indignant death glare.

"Whatever, hotshot. Where's our ride anyways?" Jason asked.

"We haven't got one" Percy supplied craftily.

Jason looked at him aghast. "What do you mean 'we haven't got one'?" he asked.

"I said it in clear English, didn't I?" Percy asked again, in answer to which Jason threw a death glare at Percy. It surprised the son of Poseidon how well he could push Jason's buttons to rile him up.

"Okay, Perce, stop playing drama queen, it doesn't suit you." Jason said. "How do we get there?"

"Flashing" Percy supplied a one-word answer, wanting Jason to figure out the rest.

"You mean, like the Olympians? Who's gonna flash us to the wolf house? Lady Hestia?" Jason questioned in a rapid-fire manner, at which Percy smirked before answering.

"Me" he said simply.

Jason knuckled his head. "Of course. You?" he asked sarcastically. When Percy did nothing but shrug his shoulders noncommittally, Jason looked awestruck yet again. "Can you really do that?"

"Yep. Thing is, it drains a lot of power from me as I've just learned it" the raven-haired demigod admitted. "Another thing. I tried seeing if I could flash to the wolf house, mentally and I met this sort of blockade. I can't flash within 50 miles of it."

Jason nodded thoughtfully. "That does make sense. Probably Porphyrion's doing, aided by his mother."

"That's what I thought. They want to keep immortals away from there, obviously" Percy said.

"Well, I'm game for a walk through the forest."

"We've got this" Percy grinned encouragingly, causing Jason to smile at him.

Without further words, Percy started concentrating, marshaling his power and visualizing his intended location.

"So, how long…" Jason began, but got no further as the two suddenly disappeared in a swirling mass of water and flame.

It took less than a second to complete the journey. From the volleyball courts of camp half blood, Jason and Percy had suddenly appeared in the midst of a forest with a flash of flame. Percy landed gracefully, having had slight experience with flashing. Jason was not so lucky. He was literally spat out of the mini-vortex and landed uncomfortably, having had the breath knocked out of him.

Although Percy had managed to land gracefully, he too fell to his knees, gasping. He had never flashed that far, nor had he ever had to flash another person alongside him, and the ordeal had taken a lot out of him, as expected.

Jason recovered and went immediately to check on Percy. He put a hand on his shoulder, looking into the son of Poseidon's eyes. "Percy you okay?"

"I'll be fine" Percy managed. "Get me some water please. It's in my pack."

Jason fished about in Percy's pack and took out the water. He gave the bottle to Percy who took it with a grateful look in his eyes, before opening the cap and launching the water in the air. Jason was about to exclaim when suddenly the water stopped flying away and hovered in the air, before reaching Percy.

It seemed to get absorbed by his body which was suddenly enveloped in a sea green glow, emanating from his every pore. It faded away slowly, and Percy got to his feet. His weary demeanor had been replaced by unwavering resolve.

"Thanks man" he said, clapping the still awestruck Jason's shoulder, before grinning. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to keep your mouth closed?" he jibed good naturedly.

Jason abruptly snapped his mouth shut, to the amusement of Percy. "Didn't your mother ever tell you to not laugh at other's misfortune?" he shot back. Both broke into chuckles at Jason's attempt at a comeback.

"The Wolf House is that way" Percy said with surety, pointing off into the trees.

"What makes you so sure?" Jason asked curiously, meaning no insult.

"Lupa gave me advanced lessons over navigation and such" Percy said lightly, not wanting to sound standoffish and boastful.

Jason just nodded. He didn't think there was anything else Percy could do that would surprise him any more. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Nothing" Percy said, dashing away at a brisk run. Jason rushed after his cousin, keeping pace as they briskly sped through the water, although not so fast that they tired themselves too much.

Jason suspected that Percy was taking it easy and could run quite a lot faster without straining himself too much but was taking it easy for him. Jason was grateful for that as already, his legs were starting to ache, and they had barely covered 3 miles. After covering almost 4 miles, however, they came upon a small spring and Percy suggested that they stop for a while to rest.

Jason flopped down next to the spring and drank his fill of water. Percy reached into his pack and drew out 2 squares of ambrosia. He handed one to Jason and popped one into his own mouth. Jason, having become accustomed to ambrosia at camp half blood took the square without question and popped it into his own mouth.

He felt it melt almost immediately and go down his throat. It left him filled to the core with power and he felt completely nourished, ready to run again. A burning feeling accompanied it, as was usual. He had been warned that if he had much more than a chunk of ambrosia at a time, he would combust. Ambrosia was the food of the gods and had not been created specifically for demigod use.

"Ready?" Jason asked.

"It's fine, we should get a bit of rest while we can" Percy said. "We'll get on the move in half an hour. We'll have to run about 5 more miles before afternoon. I want to be within, 40, if not 38, miles of the Wolf House by tonight. I plan to get there by four days, five maximum. Who knows what'll be going on" Percy said, worry apparent in his eyes and voice.

Jason reassured him with a gentle look and choice words. "Hera will be fine, Perce. She's not the queen of the gods for nothing, she's tough."

Percy smiled slightly, and then closed his eyes, turning onto his back. Somehow, Jason knew that Percy was not actually asleep, probably just putting his thoughts in order. Jason himself was thoroughly winded, and immediately fell into a short napping phase.

After an hour Percy woke Jason and they continued on their way at a brisk jog. They ran until it was late afternoon, and Percy had deemed that it was time to stop for the day. Efficiently, he took out his gear from his bag and in minutes had his bedroll on the ground. Jason copied his cousin after which he left to collect firewood at Percy's request.

When he returned, Percy had laid the trappings of a fire, having dug a shallow pit, arranged a ring of stones, and readied some kindling to start the fire. Expertly, he lit the small twigs and leaves, slowly feeding the fire before adding the denser, heavier wood that Jason had brought. The two kept up a comfortable stream of conversation as both worked diligently. After eating the contents of a couple cans of tinned beans, they fell asleep, as even Percy was tired from the long day.

This routine continued for three more days. The two would wake up, not as early as the first day but quite early nonetheless and after clearing up camp, wiping away telltale traces and having breakfast they would set out. They would rest once during the day and then continue until late afternoon.

On the fifth day, Percy woke and checked the position of the sun and, judging it was time to get going, roused Jason.

"Good news, Jase" he said. "We've covered a good forty miles. We're close, and I think we should start moving more cautiously as I'd expect Porphyrion to have put up resistance against possible attackers. "

Jason nodded in agreement. "Seems the right thing to do. Hopefully we'll succeed" he said, feeling anxious, and not for the first time since they had started the quest.

This time it was Percy who offered reassurance to his cousin, before urging him to get ready. The two set off, at a statelier pace than before. When they were about eight miles from the wolf house according to Percy, both cousins heard sounds of activity from not far off that made them pause.

"Did you hear that?" Percy asked. "Sounds like there's something not far off. An army? That didn't sound like forest creatures to me."

"Sure did" the son of Zeus answered. "Sounded like there was a lot of them."

"I'd say he has quite a sizeable army there" Percy said matter of factly, before explaining. "I was sure we'd meet resistance this way because it's the easiest access route to the wolf house."

"Shouldn't we have taken a stealthier route then?" Jason asked confused, before realization donned almost immediately. "Oh… I get it. You chose this way purposefully to neutralize as much of his army as possible. That way they couldn't sneak up behind us when we reached the wolf house and would remove the chance of Porphyrion calling for aid." His insight showed his experience as a battle commander, impressing Percy, although he'd expected Jason to figure it out.

"Exactly" said Percy, a pleased smile on his face. "Let's just scout it out first. Plan accordingly."

Jason nodded and almost as if they were one unit, the two crept towards the source of the hubbub in the usually quiet, still forest. Jason noticed that Percy seemed almost like a stalking predator. His stance and stride had changed to that of a hunter and he flitted silently through the shadows. Jason himself was extremely stealthy when he wanted to be, but Percy was literally on another level.

The two crossed through a small grove of trees and harsh bellowing voices suddenly came to their ears clearly, intermixed with drawn out serpentine voices. Percy stalked forward and peered between two trees, keeping his head there for maybe ten seconds before drawing it back and coming over to where Jason waited, if ten seconds could be called waiting, that is.

Without needing to be prompted, Percy spoke. "They're just over a gentle crest in the path. There are about 150, 160 monsters. They have a large cyclops battalion, about 80 strong and about 50 dracaenae. There're also a few scattered hellhounds and telekhines. They aren't even arranged in a battle formation and do not seem to have a leader. No buildings nearby, suggesting the encampment is not permanent, or has been here for long. It'd be easy to flank them and form a pincer strategy, or we could both go down the middle and cut through them before turning to the sides."

Jason listened carefully, more than a little surprised and impressed. Despite his amazement, he was able to keep his mouth shut, for fear of getting ribbed by Percy again.

As Percy finished Jason spoke. "Okay, I must say, that was awesome." As a smirk made its way onto Percy's face, he quickly pressed on. "Moving on, I think we should go in on the flank and try to meet roughly in the middle of the first quarter. Well have the element of surprise at first and they'll need time to rally, especially since they don't seem to have a clear leader. When they do rally, however, we'll need to stick together for the extra protection."

Percy nodded approvingly and Jason himself went to take a look at the monster army. He took a much longer look than Percy had done and returned. "Seems about right" he said lightly.

Both cousins had a little drink of water and a small shot of nectar, reenergizing themselves for the upcoming battle. After the return of his memories, Jason's powers over lightning and wind had improved markedly, which he was thankful for as all of it would be needed in the upcoming battle.

Percy closed his eyes for a few seconds, channeling his thoughts and putting them into containers, and brought his battle skills, strategies and power control memories to the forefront of his mind, a skill given to him by Athena and honed by Lupa. The addition of the mind powers he had gotten from Hera had given him virtually complete control over his own mind.

When he opened his eyes, they were hard, determined and emotionless. Jason's face was also determined, but Percy noticed a slight spark of apprehension in the corner of his eyes. "Ready?" Percy asked.

Jason grit his teeth and nodded. "Ready."

Wordlessly, the two separated until they were about thirty feet away from each other, both ready to charge. Jason flipped his coin, which elongated into a sword. Percy, meanwhile, drew riptide. Arrows would endanger Jason as more monsters would attack him since Percy could not be seen while shooting, so he had chosen his trusted bronze sword to create a diversion for Jason.

As if they were one entity, the two demigods surged forwards into the open. They caught the monsters completely by surprise, and they had barely even turned to the source of the commotion and judged the two as a threat before the demigods were upon them, raining blows upon their ranks.

Percy swung his sword, cleanly decapitating a cyclops before thrusting riptide through the chest of another in quick succession, causing both to burst into golden dust. Wasting no time, he went forwards toward the middle, slashing his sword from side to side, dropping foes as he went, a trail of golden dust behind him.

Jason too, hefted his sword like a master, cutting down enemies left and right. Both cousins converged on the center and even when they were within reach of each other, neither had used a drop of their respective powers.

Percy spared the time for a quick fist bump with Jason, grinning as he did so. "Any problems?" he asked casually, slicing the neck of a telekhine as if constant life and death situations were normal for him.

They probably were, Jason thought. "You kidding?" he asked. "This is the most fun I've had in ages" he said, lopping the head off a cyclops that had been trying to bring his club down on Percy's back.

The cousins stood back to back, protecting each other and lessening enemy ranks. After a while, Percy noticed that although he and Jason had fought well, killing hoards of monsters, more seemed to be taking their places. "The patrols around the forest" he realized suddenly. They must have heard the commotion and come to help their brethren.

"Jason…" he started but was cut off.

"I know" the sandy haired boy said.

Percy realized that even though him and Jason were good fighters, they would eventually go down under the overwhelming numbers of the army. Already, his arm had been nicked by a dracaena's blade and a short gash adorned his face. Jason looked even worse. The blonde was gasping slightly and favoring his right side, probably from having a shield bashed into his body. His face too, had been nicked and half a dozen assorted cuts littered the exposed parts of his body.

"Jason, time to start using our powers" Percy said with a note of urgency.

His cousin nodded and without pause for thought began expending his powers over his father's domain. Dark gray clouds appeared overhead, and the winds picked up, howling as they did so. Copying his cousin Percy too let go of his powers, calling forth a cyclone of wind, or rather, the moisture in the air. Seeing Percy's tornado coming closer and gathering speed, Jason willed the winds to circle faster and faster and join Percy's wind funnel.

It grew even larger if possible and the wind howled loudly. Some monsters stopped dead in their tracks, awed by the behemoth cyclone headed straight for them. Some panicked and only the fear of suffering Porphyrion's wrath kept them from retreating.

Just like that, the cyclone was upon them, snatching weapons from the monster's hands and spinning them ever higher. "Jason, can you make it rain?" Percy asked, teeth gritted in his immense concentration to keep the winds spinning and maintain their shape.

Jason realized with a jolt that it had been Percy who had been doing most of the effort in regard to their joint cyclone. Jason had only made the wind stronger while Percy had stirred up winds even though that was not technically his domain and was also shaping the cyclone, retaining its fury.

"One torrential downpour, coming right up" he jested, concentrating. Suddenly, the clouds let go of their moist burden and rain started falling in heavy sheets. Jason, wanting to help Percy further summoned devastating bolts of lightning, sending them crashing into the monster army, each bolt completely eradicating a 10-foot radius of monsters.

Suddenly, the tornado vanished. Jason turned to his cousin with a worried expression, hoping that he had not come to harm. Such was not the case. Percy was alive and well, the falling rain giving him a small amount of added power.

Behind him there was a yell, and Jason turned just in time to come face to face with a cyclops in the act of bashing a club into his head. A shiver of dread passed through him as he instinctually knew that he would not be able to get his own blade up in time.

He needn't have worried, however, as a shard of ice impaled the cyclops in his one eye, killing him instantly. He saw several monsters being struck down in the same way as he turned to his own task of killing the monsters, with blade and with focused lighting bursts. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that it was Percy who was impaling monsters with ice shards. The shards were formed of the water from Jason's storm which Percy had caused to solidify into ice.

The tornado and the hail of shards as well as Jason's lightning attacks had done their job. The monster's numbers had dwindled substantially, and now only 30 or so of them remained most of them closer to Percy. Jason noticed with a slight start that Percy had targeted the monsters in his, Jason's, vicinity in an attempt to keep him safe and to relieve some of the pressure. Now Percy dashed forward with amazing speed, drawing his twin knives as he did so, and Jason could only watch in amazement as Percy cut through the remainder of the monsters with the precision of a surgeon with twin scalpels.

The fifteen or so monsters that were left started retreating, mad with fear and having no thoughts about the consequences of their defeat.

"Percy!" Jason yelled warningly.

If the remaining monsters got back to Porphyrion, he would come to know about the demigods and would act accordingly, maybe even removing Hera and taking her somewhere else.

Percy nodded shortly. "I've got this" he told his cousin, casually twisting the ring on his finger.

Jason had heard of Percy's skill (or lack, thereof) with a bow and so, he was stupefied when the ring morphed into Percy's bow which he nocked expertly and sent a large number of arrows flying after the running monsters with amazing speed. Cries of pain indicated that his arrows had found their intended targets. In under 15 seconds, the remainder of the monsters had been shot down and nothing remained of the small army save for the dust littering the forest floor.

"Are you okay?" Percy asked worriedly, looking at the cut on Jason's face.

"I'll be fine." Jason brushed away Percy's concern. After making sure that Percy was okay, Jason dropped to his knees, exhaustion taking its toll.

"Nice job bro" Percy said, dropping down next to Jason. "You did okay with the lightning."

"Likewise" Jason smirked, giving him a fist bump.

"Well, the Wolf House is not far. Just a few miles and we're there."

"Let's roll" Jason said.

Percy nodded, reaching into his pack and passing a bottle of nectar to Jason who took it gratefully. Percy had not taken into account just how much the battle had taken its toll on Jason. His memories just having been returned to him, Jason was still not fully back to his own self and had less stamina then he normally would have.

Percy himself was relatively unscathed. Lupa had put him through far worse than what he had faced although there had never been as many monsters. He had not even had to use his fire powers and the ice shards hadn't really been a necessity. Percy wondered with slight apprehension when the going would get much tougher as it usually did in matters where he was concerned.

He did however take a swig of nectar while setting off at a cautious, prowling run, Jason on his heels. It took about three to four hours and it was about mid afternoon when they got within a mile of the wolf house and the trees slowly began getting thinner. Suddenly Percy dropped to the ground, putting his ear to it before straightening again.

"Sounds like there's a battle going on already" he said curiously.

Jason strained his own ears. The distant sounds of battle reached him. "Hmm" he mused. "We should definitely check as fast as we possibly can."

His cousin nodded, and without a further word began running at a decent sprint showing no sign of exertion whatsoever. Jason ran beside Percy, slightly more winded but determined, nonetheless. The sounds of fighting became louder and louder as they neared the Wolf House.

Percy led Jason down a secluded path which led to the Wolf House. As they came into the large clearing which housed it, Jason's mouth dropped open. Percy would've joked about it, had he not been as surprised himself, although he managed to hide it.

The remainder of Porphyrion's troops were engaged in a heated battle against the maiden huntresses of Artemis. The clearing was littered with dust and silver arrows were flying all over it. The Hunters were matched against an army of about 400-500 monsters and it was clear who had the upper hand. The hunters, although they had superior skill on their side, did not have the numbers to match the monster army.

Most of the hunters, Percy noticed, had numerous bruises and cuts littering their bodies, especially the ones who had drawn knives and were keeping the monsters at bay from getting to the younger huntresses who were using their hunting bows.

A roar abruptly permeated the air. Out of the forest came a huge Aetheopian Drakon, spitting acid at a target which gracefully dodged the stream and sent a shaft of silver moonlight at the beast. The arrow hit it hard, right in the eye. It was a perfect shot that only the best bowman could've made on a swiftly moving target. With a roar of pain, the great beast collapsed, blood gushing from its eye and incapacitated for the moment. Artemis, for of course it was she, took advantage of the Drakon's incapacitation and darted in close, drawing her knives and stabbing the giant creature in the chest, causing it to burst into dust.

Barely had she done this than a loud challenging yell was heard. Seemingly from behind the Wolf House came a huge, towering figure, more than twenty-five feet tall. He had dreadlocks the color of summer leaves, with what looked to Percy like weapons braided into them. The giant had green scaly dragon legs and was carrying a huge golden spear.

"Porphyrion" Jason gasped. "Bane of Zeus."

Said giant looked around, assessing the battlefield before starting on his way towards Artemis. Percy found himself making an unexplained spilt second decision.

"Jase, I'm gonna go help Lady Artemis with Porphyrion" he said. "You go and do what you can to help the hunters."

Jason nodded. "Good luck Perce" he said, meeting Percy's eyes.

"Stay safe" his cousin said before dashing off through the middle of the battlefield.

Percy drew his knives as he ran straight into the horde of monsters that were overwhelming the hunters. He swung in a graceful arc, slicing the neck of a dracaena and stabbing two cyclopes coming out of the spin.

The hunters stopped in amazement for a split second as they saw Percy battling his way through the horde of monsters, cutting apart their lines like a hot knife through butter, before continuing to fend off the monsters as well as they could with renewed vigor.

A lightning bolt crackled out of the sky, decimating a circle of monsters while at the same, exact time another struck the earth not far away as Jason jumped into the fray. Percy kept using his powers to the minimum, conserving energy for the upcoming fight with the giant that was even now, fighting Artemis.

He kept fighting still using the knives as they gave him an advantage in control and accuracy in the close quarters battle. He swiped both his knives to his sides, killing a telekhine and a cyclops. As he did so, he heard a yell of pain and looked up to see Artemis fly through the air before thudding to the ground.

He flat out sprinted towards Artemis as he saw the giant begin to make its way towards her, an arrogant look etched into his face. He slid to a stop between Porphyrion and the groaning goddess of the moon.

"And who are you, godling?" the giant asked in a bellowing voice. "You scent is powerful for a demigod, but you aren't a god" he said.

Percy supplied no answer to the question. "Step away, or I will hurt you" he warned, no trace of a joke on his face.

The giant looked surprised at his audacity before sniffing the air much like a dog would. "A son of Poseidon. You sea spawn always were arrogant."

Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the irony, as the giant continued. "You sea spawn taste briny and salty, but you'll do for a small meal. Maybe I'll save you for Polybotes" he rumbled.

Percy wasted no further time, lunging forward as quick as lightning and slicing both knives along Porphyrion's scaled legs before leaping back. He was unpleasantly surprised. Even the sharp Olympian silver had barely managed to cut the toughened legs. It did, however, convey his meaning and resolve to the giant, who roared in shock and anger before readying his golden spear.

In the blink of an eye, Porphyrion drew back the spear and lunged. The whole shaft sank into the earth and had Percy not jumped to the side when he did, he would have been impaled on it. As it was, the spear had drawn a rather long cut on his shoulder. It seemed the giant's size did not dull or slow his reflexes in any way.

Percy sheathed the knives and enlarged riptide, facing the giant warily. As the giant made to lunge again, Percy ducked in low, dodging the oncoming spear and jumped onto Porphyrion's leg, finding purchase on the rough scaled legs easily. He made another leap and when he was level with the giant's shoulder, he gripped the muscular appendage and vaulted himself behind the giant's head, still gripping the shoulder.

Quickly, he slashed riptide at the giant's exposed back. His skin was nowhere near as hard as his leg scales and the celestial bronze sword scored a deep cut on the giant's shoulder. The giant let out a bellow of pain and rage and shook wildly, as if he were a bucking bronco.

The abrupt motion sent Percy flying off his back, causing him to fly 10 feet before his back slammed into the ground. "Bad idea. Really bad idea" Percy groaned, trying to shake the cobwebs from his head. The giant grinned triumphantly as he turned and was about to impale Percy when a shining silver arrow lodged in his arm.

3 more quickly found their mark, hitting the weak parts of the giant's body. Porphyrion's nerve endings sent his brain a shock of pain. Something which showed in his face as he clawed at the arrows, trying to get them out of his flesh.

Percy turned his head and saw that Artemis was on her feet, apparently having recovered from her fall. As she squared off against the giant, Percy pushed himself off the ground forcefully. He noticed Artemis rush in close with her twin silver hunting knives and did the same.

The two managed to score superficial cuts on the giant's skin but that achieved nothing except enraging him further. The giant soon shifted it's focus on Artemis, marking her as the greater threat. His movements were lightning fast as he swung his spear and grabbed at Artemis with another hand.

The ever-graceful goddess however, managed to evade him, ducking, spinning and diving away from his attacks. She leapt in close to deliver an attack before realizing her mistake just a split second after. The giant had baited her in close and now swept down one of his meaty hands, picking up the struggling goddess easily. He was about to start squeezing when a shock of pain passed through him.

Percy had used the giant's distraction to his advantage and had driven the whole length of riptide through one of his legs. The behemoth hopped on one foot as Percy took his sword out with a squelch, cashing a rivulet of golden ichor to flow out.

With extreme speed, fueled by anger, he brought down his spear to deal a crushing blow to Percy. Having no time to dodge, Percy put his sword up crosswise to the descending spear. He regretted his decision as a second later, his arms went numb with sudden shock as the shattering blow fell, jarring his arms. It was a wonder that they hadn't broken, what with all the force behind the blow.

Having no other option, Percy put out his hands and fire immediately blossomed in his palms. He shot balls of flame at the giant, being careful not to hit Artemis. The giant was surprised at the demigod's a ability to wield fire and paid for staying still as hot bursts of fire hit his chest and face, singing them badly. Percy then formed some ice spikes from a river flowing nearby, sending them flying at Porphyrion. Most of them were deflected by the spear due to Porphyrion's quick reactions but a couple of the spikes got past. They struck hard and fast, one in his left forearm and the other on the upper arm of the same hand.

The sudden shock caused Porphyrion to release his grip on Artemis, who fell to the ground, shooting arrows as she did so. The arrows found more chinks in his natural armor and the hulking brute staggered back. Percy touched his ring and his black bow materialized. He put his hands on the string and willed the arrows to burst into flames. He pushed in the energy from his fire powers and the arrows grew even hotter, achieving the color and hear of Greek fire. He let his arrow fly, following it up with three others in quick succession. Two arrows struck home and the Greek fire burned through the giant's skin, embedding themselves halfway into his body.

The giant yelled in agony yet again, and fell on his back, causing the ground they were standing on to shake. Before Artemis or Percy could capitalize, a chasm opened in the earth and the giant was suddenly swallowed by a gaping black crevice which promptly resealed itself again.

Artemis came up to Percy, who fell to one knee in a deep bow. "Rise" she commanded. Percy straightened and as she got a good look at him, Artemis exclaimed out loud. "Perseus! How… You…" she said, at a loss for words, eyeing his bow as she composed herself. "You did well" she finally spoke. For a male" she said, quickly adding the injunction at the end.

Percy smiled lightly. That was as far a compliment as he would get from the man hating goddess. "Milady, maybe we should help your hunters. They aren't faring very well, although Jason is trying his best to help" he said, gesturing to his cousin, who was surrounded by monsters and yet, shooting off sizeable bolts of lightning.

Artemis nodded shortly before dashing off without a word. Percy followed her example, rushing to one of the younger hunters who seemed to be cornered. He loosed arrows as he ran, aiming for the monsters closest to the little huntress. He used normal arrows as the Greek fire arrows at the end of his battle with Porphyrion had exhausted his core. He had never even attempted to light his arrows with Greek fire. Moreover, doing so required a lot of power and it had taken everything Percy had. The ambrosia had been finished and only a swig of nectar remained in the small flask. He had gulped it down, feeling the now familiar rush of power along with the slight burning.

As he got within 20 feet, Percy willed his bow to transform back into the ring and drew riptide running all the while. A telekhine which had been hidden behind the bulk of a cyclops suddenly came into view, in the act of bringing its blade down on the back of a young huntresses who was engaged with a dracaena.

For a split second, Percy considered his options. He could not take the chance that his sword would hit the huntress on its way past if he threw it, and he did not have time to draw his bow. Coming to a decision, Percy desperately ran the last few feet at top speed and threw himself into the path of the oncoming blade, even as he slashed with his sword.

As he hurtled past, the telekhine's wickedly sharp sword stabbed through his shoulder, only a couple centimeters from his heart. His own blade sliced into the monster's midsection, nearly cutting him in two, causing him to disintegrate.

Percy landed five feet away, thankfully not landing on his shoulder and driving the sword in deeper. The young huntress spun around in dismay and even though he was racked with pain, he saw her eyes widen in absolute shock and horror.

Knowing that he had to get the blade out, Percy gritted his teeth and pulled it out. He scrabbled at his backpack which had landed close enough for him to reach and pulled out a bottle of water. Drained of energy as he was, Percy would have preferred some nectar, or a square of ambrosia, but their supplies were completely depleted. If wasn't as if either nectar or ambrosia grew on trees, Percy thought ruefully.

Making the best of what he had, he opened the cap of the bottle and willed the water to form a thin film which enveloped his wound and directed a wavering pulse of orange light at it with his fingers. It took what felt like hours, but finally the searing pain receded, replaced by a dull ache which Percy knew for sure was going to make him uncomfortable for weeks. With a groan, he pulled himself to his feet and drew his sword.

The fighting had nearly drawn to a close, however. The last few monsters were being taken down by the hunters. Not willing to rest until the battle was over, Percy called upon the last dredges of strength in his body to propel him towards the enemy. The huntress he had saved was nowhere in sight and Percy felt an unexplained twang of anxiety, hoping she was safe. Jason too, was worryingly absent.

Percy banished negative thoughts that invaded his mind, and helped as much as he could, managing to kill yet more monsters. Finally, the twenty or so remaining monsters tried to retreat, but to no avail, as the hunters' arrows made short work of them.

Percy was about to slump to the ground, exhausted, when he was intercepted midway. His vision was obscured by unruly jet back spikes. The sudden pressure, however, was almost too much for Percy. He began to see black spots dancing in front of him and groaned in pain.

"Thals. Let up, will ya? I'm a little bit hurt here" he said shakily, though he smiled, both with affection and relief. He was happy to see his cousin again and happier still to see that she was mostly unhurt, save for a few scratches and bruises.

She pulled back immediately, a contrite expression on her face. "I'm so sorry Percy, I didn't mean to, really. Where are you h…" her eyes traveled down Percy's torso and came to rest on his wounded chest. She gasped at the deep cut. It looked as it if a sword had gone clean through Percy's body. Thankfully, It did not seem to have gone through a bone, nor shattered a rib. Thalia tenderly touched the wound and Percy gritted his teeth in suppressed pain.

The thudding of swiftly moving footfalls came to both their ears. The two cousins turned their heads as one. It was Jason, making his way towards the two. He reached them, breathless, and turned immediately to his cousin, not sparing a glance at Thalia.

"Hey, buddy" Percy said weakly. "How'd you do? You okay?" he questioned.

"Not too bad" Jason said optimistically. "Couple of cuts, but nothing that can't be healed."

Percy grinned, happy that his cousin was okay. One of the causes of his worry had been removed. He closed his eyes as another wave of pain overwhelmed him.

"Percy man, are you alright? I saw you fighting Porphyrion. For a second there, I thought you might not make it" he said in a rapid-fire manner, worried beyond belief at his cousin's weak tone.

"I'll be fine, I hope. Got hit hard in the end there though" Percy said, trying to ease his cousin's anxiousness.

Jason was not to be deterred. He and Percy were closer than most brothers and he could easily see something was wrong. He scanned Percy's body with his eyes and when they came to rest on his injured torso, he barely suppressed a wail of dismay.

The wound looked bad, although Percy had tried his best to heal it so that he could get up and running again. A large area around the wound was drenched in blood, and a sheen of sweat was visible on his normally smooth, dry, forehead.

"Perce, you told me you were fine! This, this is not fine!" Jason said, barely containing his emotions.

"Jason, calm down, I'll be fine. Really." Percy grasped around for a change of topic to remove Jason's attention from himself. His eyes fell on Thalia, who was looking at him with worry in her stormy blue-green eyes.

"Jason, wait. I'd like you to meet Thalia Grace. She's a daughter of Zeus like you and the current lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis" Percy said, hoping his ploy would work.

It seemed to do the trick. Jason turned towards Thalia and as soon as his eyes fell upon her, he visibly changed. For one, he slumped to the ground and shook his head as if he was clearing cobwebs. Percy was even more surprised when Thalia kneeled down, a shocked expression on her face.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jason spoke. "Thalia? Is it really you?"

Thalia did not reply, instead pulling him into a huge hug, tears forming in her usually stoic eyes. "I never thought I'd see you again Jason. Thank the gods you're safe." Jason returned her hug with equal vigor.

Percy now looked utterly clueless. He stayed silent, not wanting to intrude on an obviously private moment. His mind addled as it was with pain was not helping him. "Uhh. Guys? Do you know each other?" he asked.

Thalia broke the hug and looked at him over her brother's shoulder, a teasing twinkle in her eyes. "Percy, Jason is my brother! I distinctly remember telling you I had a brother who I lost when he was very young!"

After a short pause, Percy spoke. "Ohhh. You were talking about Jason?"

"Who else, seaweed brain?!" his cousin retorted. Jason was looking between the two, slightly confused.

"Perce. You know Thalia?"

"Umm, duh" Percy said, sarcasm in his tone.

"How could you not make the connection? Even our last name is the same, among a thousand other things!"

"I dunno" Percy shrugged sheepishly. Before he could say more, though, he keeled over backwards onto the ground.

Jason and Thalia were at Percy's side in a flash. Thalia expertly checked his vitals before sighing. "What have you gotten yourself into this time?" she questioned under her breath.

Jason was going spare with worry. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"Hard to tell. Even he has his limits."

At that moment there was another interruption. A young blonde-haired huntress suddenly dashed up to them, Lady Artemis hot on her heels. "There he is, milady!"

Artemis accessed the situation quickly. "Thalia?"

"He's still breathing. How is he still breathing?! Thalia asked, askance. "He should've been dead the moment the sword went in."

Artemis did not reply. Jason was truly shocked when he saw that Artemis had a slight quiver in her eyes. Was the man-hating goddess actually worried about the fate of a male? When he looked again, the quiver had disappeared, leading him to believe it had been a trick of the light.

"Althea!" Artemis called tersely. Almost immediately, a blond haired, blue eyed girl who looked about 17 appeared at her shoulder.

"Milady?" She did not, however need to wait for an answer as her eyes fell on the unconscious Percy. She kneeled down next to him at once, and Thalia wordlessly stepped back to give her some room.

She checked Percy's pulse again and took a closer look at his wound. She dabbed at it with a wet cloth she took from a pack she carried but stopped as Percy's breathing became more labored and drawn out. She stepped back with a grim look.

"I don't know if he's going to make it. From what I can make out, there's internal bleeding and he's lost a lot of blood. I don't think anyone except maybe Apollo can do anything for him now" she stated bluntly.

Artemis was about to speak when a sudden exclamation surprised them all. The young huntress who had brought Artemis to Percy's side had an anguished expression on her face.

"It's all my fault! He wouldn't have been hurt like this if I had had a better watch on my surrounding area!" she almost yelled. "I didn't even get to thank him" she finished disconsolately.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault" Thalia spoke up. "Plus, Percy is gonna be fine. You can thank him later" she said firmly, as if that closed the matter and patted the young girl's shoulder comfortingly.

Artemis nodded tersely. I'm flashing him to Apollo's palace on Olympus. Thalia, Althea, you two go with him. Once you're there, just yell for him. He'll do what he can for Percy." She reached out to Apollo using the mental bond they shared as twins and told him to get to his palace and do what he could for a 'patient'. She felt a twinge of acknowledgement and then severed the connection after a brief thank you.

Both huntresses, meanwhile, had nodded at once. Jason was about to speak up indignantly when he realized what he was about to say to whom and held himself.

Without a further word, Artemis nodded to her huntresses and the next second, they were gone in a flash of rippling silver.

"Come with me, son of Zeus" she called to Jason brusquely, already walking.

It took Jason a moment to realize where she was going and when he finally did, he felt like smacking himself. In all the commotion, he had forgotten the main reason for the mission, which had been to rescue Hera.

He ran to catch up with the swiftly striding goddess and entered the wolf house right behind her. The interior was as beautifully crafted on the inside as it was on the outside. In another time, Jason would have spent time running his hands over the carved white rock and staring at the murals in the windows, but right now, all that occupied his thoughts was to make sure that their mission was successful. He did at least, owe that to Percy.

Artemis stopped in her tracks and Jason almost crashed into her. Doing so would have ensured that he lived out the rest of his life as a deer at best. He didn't want to think about the worst. As it was, however, he stopped himself in time and peered around the moon goddess.

In the middle of the main room, a circular cell had been placed. It looked sturdy and had the sheen of celestial bronze. One of only two known metals that could render an Olympian helpless if trapped inside, as it sucked their powers from them once rightly treated with dark magic.

Hera was inside the cell. She looked nothing like she had done only a week ago. The usually pristine goddess' clothes were a mess. Her white skirt was tattered and frayed, and she was sprawled on the floor, barely moving.

Artemis suddenly drew her bow, startling Jason. Without a warning, she nocked a shimmering silver arrow to her bow and let it fly. It hit one of the bars with a resounding 'gong' and clattered to the ground. The arrow had done its trick, however. Artemis had hit the bar right where it was weakest and it dropped to the floor with a 'clang'.

Artemis repeated the process once more and then again, until the opening was wide enough to get Hera out. After her third arrow, Artemis took a deep breath, steadying herself before going forward. Hera was starting to stir feebly. She regarded Artemis and then Jason with haggard, but thankful eyes.

Assisted by her husband's daughter, she climbed out. Once out of the cell, she seemed to grow taller. Some of the tired look around her face vanished, and her clothes returned to their usual condition. Yet, she clung to Artemis' shoulder for support until she regained her bearings.

"Thank you, Artemis. You have done me a debt I shall not forget."

Artemis nodded, and to Jason, she seemed slightly surprised by Hera's actions. It made sense, especially as Hera did not like Zeus' children that he had sired with other immortals while at the same time being wed to her.

Hera then turned to Jason, her eyes immediately going harder. "Another son of Zeus, I see. Does his infidelity know no bounds?" Her expression visibly softened as she spoke, however. "You have done Olympus a service, young demigod. What might your name be?"

Jason bowed low. "My name is Jason Grace, milady, brother to Thalia Grace."

Hera nodded thoughtfully. "A son of Jupiter" she mused. "It seems my captivity has effected my senses more than I had thought possible."

"You need to rest" Artemis said in her usual blunt manner.

"I do at that, Artemis." Suddenly, her eyes grew worried. "Does Percy know of my captivity? Is he safe?" the last question was not on account of Percy not being able to take care of himself as Hera knew just how powerful he was. She was worried that because of his typical noble nature, he had departed to look for her as soon as he had heard the news that she was captured.

Artemis slowed her pace and seemed to grow smaller as the look on Hera's face grew in intensity.

Jason, oblivious to what was going on, replied. "He was with me, milady. Lady Hestia gave us the tidings of your capture and with it, narrated a prophecy which was to send me and Percy after you. We did so and got here just today. I helped the hunters defeat Porphyrion's army while Percy took on the giant king himself in aid of Lady Artemis. They succeeded in defeating him although he vanished before they could deal a fatal blow. Percy and Lady Artemis immediately turned around to assist us with the monster army. That was when..." his voice wavered and broke.

"That was when what?!" Hera demanded tersely. She had put the pieces together in her mind and was already dreading the next sentence from Jason.

"He… got stabbed. I don't know how they managed it, but he was stabbed, only a centimeter or two away from his heart. Lady Artemis teleported him to Lord Apollo's palace on Olympus, to see if he could do something for him."

Hera was wearing an expression that Jason had never thought he would see on the face of a God. Much less an Olympian deity. Her face clearly portrayed fear, hope and anguish. The queen quickly schooled her expression.

"I'm going to Olympus. See to your hunters, they have fought long and hard. Jason, Artemis will teleport you to your camp."

"Milady, if I may. Would you please take me to Olympus with you? I really want to see if Percy is alright."

Hera regarded this for a second before waving her hand in an affirmative motion. Artemis nodded to them, then turned on her heels to check on her hunters. And then, there was a pure white flash and Jason saw no more.

 **AN: And there we have it guys ! I'm sorry for another cliffhanger, but hey, it keeps things mysterious and fun. I really do hope that you guys enjoyed it. As always, feel free to comment, like and follow. Comments are important, like I've stressed before. Again, I'm not gonna abandon this story. Count on that. See yall soon !**

 **HOA11 out…**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Hey fellas! Hope y'all are doing fine! First off, I'd like to thank you all for the patience while I was away. The response I received from you guys was extremely heartening. There's a huge twist coming up in this chapter, although most of it is a filler (Yeah, sorry about that). Well, anyways, I do hope you enjoy the chapter, and please, feel free to review about any changes you might want me to make. Favorites and follows tripled with reviews get me motivated to do better, so keep those coming!

Also, I would like to thank 'DarkGamer159' who gave me quite a few ideas. Thanks for sending me that at 4am *chuckles*

 **Disclaimer: Yeah. The rights and everything for recognized characters and stuff go to Rick Riordan and all that jazz. I thought I made that clear before, but it seems I have to keep doing this…**

 **Happy reading to you guys!**

 **Chapter 8:**

 ***Three days later***

He felt weak, and numb. Underneath him, he could feel a soft mattress and could hear a repeated beeping sound while light made it past his eyelids. Percy opened his eyes groggily, trying to adjust to the bright light that suddenly entered his eyes.

He heard a suppressed but decidedly relieved sigh to his right.

"Percy?" the voice questioned.

"Mhere" he muttered, his throat dry. At once, a glass of deliciously cool water was held to his lips. He drank it with relish, wetting his parched throat.

"Lady Hestia?" he asked, much clearer than before.

"Yes, Percy, it's me. You gave us quite a scare!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that" he said sheepishly. As his vision finally cleared, he was able to take stock of his surroundings. He was on a comfortable hospital bed in what looked like a medical ward. Several machines sat by his bed, beeping gently at times. Hestia was seated to his right, worry and relief in her eyes.

Another thought invaded his mind and his mood instantly changed. If Hera we had been fine, she would probably have been here, if only to see to it that her champion was alright. "What happened with the quest? Did we save Lady Hera? Where is she?" he asked and made to get up.

Hestia put a firm, but gentle hand on his chest, pushing him back into a laying down position. "Hera is perfectly alright. Or will be, once she catches up on her rest. She refused to leave your side for three whole days, even though she was almost completely depleted of strength and wounded to boot" Hestia said with a trace of a smirk. "Your friends were also very worried. They're all here on Olympus. In the next room, in fact. As for Hera, I almost had to force her to go rest."

Percy calmed down, before something Hestia had said registered in his brain. "Three days?! I was out for three days?" he almost yelled.

"You're lucky you aren't out forever!" Hestia retorted sharply, then sighed. "Percy, you almost died. Even after Apollo did all he could, it still wasn't certain that you'd live."

"Apollo healed me, huh. I'll have to thank him" Percy mused. Noting the expression on Hestia's face, Percy was quick to offer reassurance. "Milady, I'll be fine, really. Don't worry about me."

"But I do worry" Hestia sighed, then changed the topic.

"Apollo will be here soon to check up on you. In the meantime, I'd better summon your friends." Hestia waved her hand and suddenly, Thalia and Jason appeared. Althea, the huntress whom Artemis had sent to make sure he was safe was also present, although she looked as if she did not want to be there.

Jason and Thalia had no such reservations. Both were at his side in a flash.

"Perce!" Without thinking, Jason tried to pull Percy in for a hug. Tendrils of stabbing pain shot through Percy, although Percy managed to hide his pain aside from a wince. One of the monitors, however, gave him away.

It's beeping quickened and the color changed from blue to red momentarily before returning to its original state.

"Easy buddy" Percy said, a slight smile on his face.

"Shit, I'm sorry man, I didn't think" Jason muttered an apology.

"Are you okay?" Thalia cut over her brother's apologies.

"Well, still a bit tender, but I'll live" Percy said optimistically. "I think I'll be ready to take you two on in a few hours. What say we have a friendly battle?" he challenged.

Althea had walked over to the monitor which had spiked and was checking them all now. At Percy's words, she turned to him, a harsh expression on her face.

"You will be doing no such thing" she said in clipped tones. "It'll be at least a day or two before you can return to your normal state. By rights, it should take you weeks, but you're healing exceptionally fast." She said the last part grudgingly.

Without a further word, she took something from her pack and smoothed it down onto Percy's wound. The pain suddenly receded, leaving behind only a whisper of its presence.

"Thanks!" Percy smiled easily, pleasantly surprised at the sudden lack of pain. The huntress did not reply, aside from a muttered 'hmphh' and turned her face away.

Jason and Thalia talked to Percy for a while, keeping the topics light. Hestia let them talk amongst themselves and after a while, the teens forgot she was even there. Apollo came to check on Percy and was extremely relieved to see that he was on the mend, remarkably. After applying some healing salves and keeping up a comfortable conversation, Apollo left to attend to his duties. He had waved away Percy's gratitude. Apollo said that he was sure that if their positions were reversed, Percy would've done the same for him.

He had barely left when the door to the room slid open again. The teens, caught up in a heated debate about which of their weapons was the best, failed to notice that the door had opened. Hestia, however, did. She turned to see Hera as she usually was. The bruises that had littered her face were now absent and she looked revitalized. Hera caught her looking and nodded, both in greeting and gratitude. Hestia returned it with an easy smile.

As Hera strode forward purposefully, her aura around the room grew and the demigods noticed. Upon seeing her, Jason, Thalia and Althea bowed at once while Percy too attempted a clumsy bow while in a sitting position.

"Rise" she commanded. "I would speak to Perseus alone" she said, an authoritative aura exuding from her.

"Of course" said Hestia knowingly.

Thalia and Jason exchanged quick goodbyes with Percy and then left through the door, Althea and Hestia following them out, leaving the room in silence.

The silence did not last long. As soon as they had left, Hera strode forwards until she reached Perseus bedside. Without warning, she hugged him tenderly, being careful not to touch his wound. Percy melted into the embrace, his pain all but forgotten. Relief at her safety flooded his system.

"How are you doing, my lady?" he questioned, once Hera had pulled back.

"How am I doing? You're lying in a hospital bed, about an inch from death, and you have the nerve to ask me if I am fine?!" Hera said in a raised voice. Inside, she was smiling. She softened her expression. "I am fine, since you seem so curious" she said. "How is the healing coming along?" she asked, a slightly worried look on her face.

"Apollo said I'll be fine. By tomorrow at most. I'll be back to fighting monster armies soon" he smirked.

Hera glared at him. "You will do no such thing until I say that it is okay" she said sharply. Percy was reminded of the healer Althea who had said something along the same lines and smiled in mirth.

"Whatever you say, ma'am" he said mischievously.

Hera sighed in exasperation. "Indeed" she said skeptically, knowing full well that the demigod would be back in action just as soon as he was released from the confines of his hospital bed.

A thought then occurred to her and she held in a tired sigh. She was not sure if it was the right decision and feared his reaction, but she had to tell him. She steeled her nerves.

Percy had noticed her silence. "My lady, are you sure you're okay? You zoned out there for a second" Percy said anxiously.

"For the last time, Perseus, I am fine" she uttered, abruptly coming out of her mental debate. "I have rested, upon Hestia's advice and am now in good shape. Do not worry." She now steeled her resolve and opened her mouth.

"Percy, there is something you must know" she stated.

Percy noted her hesitancy. "Milady, you can tell me what's on your mind. I can take it, whatever it is."

"We'll know soon enough" Hera muttered, more to herself than Percy. "It is about Annabeth."

Percy felt a small spark of dread, as Hera continued. "I…umm… When you came back to camp half blood, I used my powers to influence your feelings for Annabeth slightly" she admitted.

For a while, Percy did not reply. When he finally did, he did not meet Hera's eyes at first. "So… what you're saying is, that you influenced her feelings to love me again?"

Hera was quick to respond. "Not at all. Like I said, I influenced only your feelings. Annabeth did what she did of her own accord. This I swear upon the river Styx." The distant rumble of thunder was heard, and Percy visibly relaxed, although the tension did not completely leave him.

"Percy?" she questioned tentatively.

"I uhh… I don't know what to say" Percy said honestly. "It would help if you answered me this. Why did you do it?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"I really did mean no harm. I had really grown to care for you by the time, and I wanted you to find some happiness in your life" she explained. "Gaea was rising and I felt that having you in the state you were in would be detrimental… of course, you hid it quite well, but me and Hestia could clearly see the hole in your heart" she said. "We said nothing, wanting to let you have your privacy."

Surprise showed on Percy's face. "I never knew" he shook his head in wonder. "Thank you" he said graciously. For letting me retain my privacy."

"Does that mean we're okay?" Hera asked, a tinge of anxiousness in her voice.

"I understand your reasons. Plus, I was never really mad at you. I'm happy to be back with Annabeth. Of course I forgive you." he said at once.

Pride welled up in her as she thought about the kind of demigod Percy was growing up into. He was the epitome of nobility and compassion. Always, he would put the needs and wishes of others before his own and would forgive anyone who he felt was being honest with him, something which was apparent now.

As the two talked about all that had happened and Hera's time in captivity, an idea began to blossom in her mind. Something that she was willing to go through with only with Percy's consent.

"Perseus, I… I have had an idea of sorts, which I want to share with you."

"Of course, my lady. Say what you will" he replied at once.

"I was wondering if you would… if it's not too much to ask. If…" she trailed off.

"Come on, milady. You know you can say anything to me" Percy smiled comfortingly.

In his smile, Hera found the courage to continue. "I wanted to know how you would feel if I expressed my desire to… to adopt you" she said haltingly.

For a moment, Percy's eyes went wide in shock. A maelstrom of emotions encompassed him at once. On one hand, he felt it would be betraying his mother if he were to be adopted by Hera and letting her become his mother. Deep down, he knew that his mother would have wanted him to move on with his life and find love, but the wound from her death was too deep, too fresh, to just move on.

On the other hand, he felt strongly about Hera. Every time they had spent even a little time together, their bond had grown. It had been the same with Hestia, but while Hestia was more of an elder sister, or an aunt, Hera had evolved into a maternal sort of figure for Percy. Someone he knew he could turn to for guidance in times of difficulty. Aside from that, Hera made him feel loved, protected and cared for, just as his mother had.

It was that similarity, more than anything which prompted an affirmative response from him. "If it would please milady, yes. I would consent to being adopted by you if you so wished" he said, attempting another bow.

Hera smiled widely and reached forward to put her arms around him again. This time around, she muttered a Greek incantation and a vortex of white light surrounded the two momentarily before dissipating.

"It is done" Hera said lightly.

"Thank you, milady. It means a lot to me that you would be willing to…" He let the sentence hang.

"Now that you're my adopted son, none of that milady tosh!" Hera said sternly. "You can call me Hera, if you wish."

"How about 'mom'?" Percy suggested.

Hera suddenly went stock still. Her mouth opened just a tiny bit as she grasped for words. Percy slowly reached forwards and lightly closed her mouth with a grin.

He saw a lone tear make its way down her cheek. It disappeared before he could ascertain that it was a tear and he wondered if he had imagined it.

"'Mom' would be fine" Hera said, her voice wavering slightly. She smiled at him as Percy gave her his signature lopsided grin.

They sat and just talked for what felt like hours, emotions churning in both of them. When the sun had almost completely dropped, Hera started and looked around.

"Look at the time!" she said, glancing at her wrist. "When were Thalia and Jason going to come back?"

"They said they'd just said spend some time together and come back when you had left" Percy said lightly.

"Well, it's high time I got going. There are a lot of things I have to do. Time has not stayed still when I was away" she chuckled wryly. "It's only been a week, yet it felt like years had passed before someone came to rescue me."

"I'm just glad we did manage to save you" Percy said honestly.

Hera smiled at him. "I never thanked you for that."

Percy looked at her in confusion. "Thank me for what? All I did was manage to get hurt. I would have come for any of my friends."

Hera looked at him fondly. "That's one of the many qualities I like and hate about you Percy. You don't stop to think before thing yourself in danger for the sake of other people" she said.

"Thanks, I think" Percy said.

"You have to stop taking such risks where your well-being is concerned, however. Things are going to change slightly, now that I feel somewhat responsible for you" Hera said sternly.

Percy nodded. "Yes ma'am."

"I will see you soon, Perseus" said Hera. "Do stay safe."

"Perseus?!" the demigod broke out indignantly.

"That is your name, is it not?" Hera asked teasingly, suppressing her laughter.

Percy glared at her until she gave up. The dam broke and she laughed a clear, pleasant laugh, causing a smile to break out on Percy's face.

"Okay, okay. Percy. Stay safe, will you?"

"I'll try" said demigod said mischievously, causing Hera to almost let out a groan.

She stood up and brushed down her pants. She hugged Percy lightly and meaningfully before flashing away after a last backward glance to her new son. Son, she thought, liking the way the word rolled around her tongue.

As soon as she left, Percy leapt out of bed. He immediately regretted the leap since it sent a shock into his shoulder upon contact with the ground. Apollo had removed the various machines from around him, declaring that Percy would be perfectly alright, and they were not needed any longer. He had left behind a small tube containing salve.

Somehow, Apollo had sensed that Percy would soon want to be walking around, probably something to do with him being the God of prophecy. He had slipped the salve into his hand when no one was looking. "I'm taking a little risk here, and being a doctor, I'm not perfectly comfortable letting you out of your bed so soon. I'm giving you this so that you don't get up against my recommendation without something to help" Apollo had said knowingly.

Percy had just grinned sheepishly, knowing that it would probably have been the case, due to him not liking to be cooped up anywhere for long. "Thanks" he'd muttered. Apollo had just dropped him a conspiratorial wink and a grin before leaving.

In the present, Percy was glad that Apollo had left him the salve. As soon as he applied it, there was a golden flash, and the pain in his shoulder completely disappeared. There was not a trace of the lightly throbbing pain of before. It was even better than when Althea had treated him, although that probably had something to do with the fact that he had been weaker so many hours ago.

Feeling much better, Percy left the room he had been in and emerged into a corridor. The corridor was interspersed with doors similar to the one he had just exited. The color gold was ever present, with gold plated olympian silver in places. At the end of the corridor, he entered another room and had to close his eyes. The room was much more brightly lit than the relatively darker corridor. Probably so that his patients don't get blinded, Percy thought ruefully, having deduced that the doors in the corridor had led to medical wards such as the one he had been in.

The room he had just entered seemed to be a living room of sorts. It was literally lathered in gold which shone right into Percy's eyes, causing him to squint until his eyes adjusted to the light. There were murals, high up in the windows, all depicting Apollo in one pose or another. The sofas were plush leather, gold colored, of course. It was tasteful, if not just a little loud. A 60" wall mounted TV was housed on the far wall facing the sofas. three doors led out of that room, not counting the one he had come through.

I'm gonna be in here forever, the way this looks to be going, the son of Poseidon thought. "How do I get out of here?" he wondered aloud.

Immediately, beneath his feet and on both sides of the wall at about chest height, golden pulses of light began to run in the same direction, towards one of the doors and beyond. Bemused, and not a little amazed, Percy followed the lights.

The lights showed him the shortest route out of the palace, and it was not a long time after that Percy emerged outside, about midway down a small slope. Behind him, the palace spanned, much larger than he had though it to be. He realized with surprise, that he had never really seen the palaces of the Gods. Lush green courtyards were all round him. Statues and mountains made of pure gold adorned the grounds.

He looked around over the castles golden walls and could make out other huge palaces dotted around. If he looked carefully, he could make out the temple of the Gods in the distance and the glowing doorway which marked the elevator entrance to Olympus.

He was about to go in search of his friends when he heard a shout of laughter. It was, unmistakably Jason's voice and Percy hastened towards it. Jason and Thalia were in one of the grounds and Jason was laughing, as Percy had thought, probably at something Thalia had said.

Upon seeing him, both immediately rose and hastened to his side. Thalia gave him a light hug, trying to be considerate about his wound. Jason looked at him over her shoulder, slightly worried.

"Hey cuz, aren't you supposed to be in bed until tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yeah, well technically I was. I snuck out. With a little help from Apollo of course" Percy smirked. Both siblings rolled their eyes and let the matter drop, knowing that if Apollo had let him out, there was probably no reason to be worried.

"Hey, what do you guys say we explore this place?" Thalia asked. "Me and Jason just came out here and caught up. We haven't really seen much of the grounds. The only other palace I've seen is lady Artemis'. Hers is much better though" she said proudly.

The cousins spent a long time exploring Apollo's grounds. The statues outside mostly depicted Apollo healing patients or fellow gods. The bushes that were present were all cut impeccably into little suns, complete with rays.

Thalia and Jason could not contain gasps when night fell, and the lights turned on. Percy too, barely contained his amazement. If anything, Olympus looked even better in the night. The braziers automatically filled up with roaring flames which threw cheery lights all over Olympus and all three cousins saw it in a whole new light.

Soon after, Apollo appeared and all three demigods bowed at once, Thalia a bit reluctantly. Percy noticed but did not say anything out loud.

"Hey guys!" Apollo said, his usual 'sunny' self.

"Lord Apollo" Percy said respectfully.

"How are you feeling, Perseus?" Apollo asked, slightly more serious.

"I'm feeling perfect, lord Apollo. I'm ready to be discharged right now!" Percy said.

"Not yet you aren't" Apollo chuckled at Percy's eagerness to get out of the confines of his room.

"But I feel perfectly okay" Percy grumbled.

Thalia and Jason were watching the exchange, bemused. Percy was staying respectful to Apollo but the two were talking on an amicable, friendly level. Neither of them had seen such an interaction between a god and a demigod. Even their own godly parent, Zeus, was not as friendly with them.

"Well, I order a last night of bed rest. Who knows what you'll be getting into this time?" Apollo said.

"Well, okayyy" Percy conceded.

Suddenly, a bright silver flash illuminated the sky. All four beings turned to see Artemis striding towards them purposefully.

Percy and Jason kneeled, while Thalia gave Artemis a bow and then stepped forward to stand at her mistress's shoulder. Apollo gave his twin sister a welcoming smile.

"Heyy, lil sis! How's it going?"

"I am not your little sister!" Artemis ground out, narrowing her eyes at her brother.

"Hey, we all know I'm olde…" Apollo stopped suddenly when he saw Artemis' hand straying towards her bow.

"I've come to take Thalia back with me. As it is, she's been here for too long" Artemis declared.

"But mila…" Thalia began, but stopped immediately when Artemis waved her hand commandingly.

"My decision is final, Thalia" she said. "I have been asked by Zeus to go on a mission, and I need my lieutenant to take charge of the hunters."

Thalia bowed. "As you say, milady. With your permission, I will say goodbye to Percy and my brother."

Artemis nodded. "Make it quick."

Thalia then turned towards Percy. "Hey seaweed brain. Try to stay in one piece for a while, okay?"

"I'll try Thals, although I can't promise you anything" Percy said honestly.

Thalia surprised him by drawing him into a meaningful hug. "See you around, Kelp-For-Brains. Take care of Jason." She whispered the last part, giving him a pleading look.

"Sure, Lightning bug" Percy replied in kind, giving her a comforting smile.

Thalia pulled back upon hearing an impatient noise from Artemis. She looked back to see her lady looking just a little sour at her intimate contact with Percy. With an apologetic look, she then turned towards Jason and had a few words with him before giving him a hug too.

Having done that, she stepped to lady Artemis' side and barely had time for a smile in her cousin's direction when another flash of silver light made the demigods look away.

"Well, I guess it's time we got back" Percy said, turning to Apollo's palace, readying himself for a walk. Jason groaned.

"Hey, dudes. I'm here am I not?" Apollo said teasingly.

Before Percy had a chance to ask Apollo what he was on about, there was a sudden flash of golden light. Barely a second later, the three were in Percy's room/ward.

"Thank you, Lord Apollo" Percy said, grateful to have avoided the walk back through the palace. He would not admit it, but his legs were getting tired. After his leg muscles having no exercise for a couple days and then suddenly being put into use, it was natural of the muscles to protest.

"All good" Apollo said easily. "Why don't you guys get settled for the night? I'll be back around noon tomorrow to complete my final check on you. You guys are free to go to camp after that."

Both Percy and Jason bowed, and Apollo disappeared in another golden flash. He had barely left when Percy let out a groan.

Jason turned to him in worry. "What's wrong? Does it hurt?"

"My wound is perfectly alright. My stomach is not" Percy said. "I haven't eaten for ages."

"Well, they did give you some liquids when you were out" Jason commented.

"That doesn't count" Percy shot back. Suddenly, he face-palmed and took on a rueful expression. "I could have just summoned some whenever I wanted."

Jason, having seen Percy summon food once or twice, did not show any surprise.

"Well, get me something to eat as well. I haven't had anything since lady Hestia left lunch with us this afternoon before she left" he said.

"Sure thing." Percy wasted no time in summoning a meal for himself and Jason. After both demigods had had their fill, Percy clapped his hands and made the now empty plates disappear before sinking into his bed with a contented moan. The bed had to be the most comfortable one he had ever lain in, Percy realized. Lying down on it was like sinking into a dense cloud. Jason copied Percy, lying down on one of the two remaining beds in the room.

"Night Perce" Jason called out, already sinking into sleep.

"Night" Percy replied, adjusting his bed's position before laying back comfortably. Sleep was quick to seize him, and Percy offered no resistance, sinking into the realm of Morpheus.

Percy woke up the next morning, refreshed and feeling much better. He glanced to where Jason lay and saw that the blonde demigod had yet to wake up, if his deep, even breathing was any indication.

Percy turned as the door opened, and Hestia stepped through. She was carrying a tray which she set on one of the tables in the room before making her way over to Percy.

"Lady Hestia" he acknowledged, bowing his head.

Hestia smiled. "Good morning Perseus. Up so early?"

"I usually get up with the sun, milady" Percy said. "A habit I developed while I was training with lady Lupa" he explained.

Hestia nodded. "Well, I have brought you breakfast. Oh, speaking of breakfast, did you summon yourself something when I left with the other demigods?"

At seeing the shamed expression on Percy's face, she shook her head at his simplicity and laughed in a low tone, careful not to disturb Jason. "I didn't leave any food for you because I thought you would summon some for yourself when you got hungry" she said, still shaking her head.

"Yeah, I kinda forgot" Percy said. "I did summon some food at night for me and Jason after Thalia left with Lady Artemis, though."

Hestia nodded her understanding, and as Percy ate his breakfast, the two fell into a nice conversation that seemed timeless. They were interrupted by Jason when he awoke, around 11 am. After acknowledging Jason's bow, Hestia got ready to leave.

Before doing so, she gave Percy a strong hug, telling him to stay safe. Percy promised that he would try his best to do so. After nodding to Jason, Hestia left in a flash of swirling fire, similar to how Percy teleported.

Soon after the two cousins had finished breakfast, Apollo arrived. He completed his final check up on Percy and then stepped back with a satisfied smile.

"You're back to about 90% functionality on your powers, Perseus. After just another couple days you'll be running hot again" he said.

Percy nodded. "I really am grateful for your help, Lord Apollo. If it wasn't for you, I probably wouldn't even be here right now."

Apollo waved away his thanks. "It's okay. Like I said, I know you'd do the same for me. Plus, you're my half cousin. Uncle P would have my head if I hadn't helped you" he smiled. "And you can just call me Apollo."

"All the same, I owe you a debt of gratitude, Lo… Apollo" Percy said. Suddenly, he started as a disturbing thought came to him. "My father! Why hasn't he come to see me yet?"

"Woah there, calm down, cuz" said Apollo. "I didn't give anyone except Hestia and Hera permission to visit you while you were here."

"Do the Olympians know about Lady Hera adopting me?" Percy asked, then snapped his mouth shut, realizing that he had slipped up.

"Hera… She… Adopted… What?" Apollo said in a strangled voice. Percy was extremely apprehensive about how Apollo would react but was pleasantly surprised when Apollo quickly flashed him his beaming smile. "Well, congratulations, Perseus. I hope you and my half mother do get some happiness out of this" he uttered.

"Thanks a lot Apollo. Oh, and it's Percy" the demigod smiled.

A white flash engulfed the room as he spoke. Hera stepped out of the beacon of light and made her way towards Percy and Apollo.

"Apollo" she nodded when she reached them.

Apollo surprised her by laying a hand on her arm. "Congratulations on your adoption, Hera."

She nodded tightly in acknowledgement. Apollo turned to Percy. "Percy, you've been given a clean bill of health. You are free to go back to camp at your will."

"Thanks again Apollo."

"No thanks necessary, cuz. See you around!" he smiled before flashing out of the room.

"Good morning, Lady He… Mom" Percy corrected quickly. Initially, he had thought that calling any woman 'mom' would make him experience a tinge of loss for his biological mother. However, he felt strangely happy using the word and, in his heart, he knew that his mother would have approved.

"Good morning, Percy" she smiled. "All set?"

"Yep" Percy said. "I'm just waiting for Jason to get out of the toilet so that we can get going. He spends hours in there!" he groaned.

Hera chuckled, unable to disguise her mirth at Percy's eagerness to get back to camp. The two made small talk, whiling away the time until Jason came back. Just as the Jason opened the door, another flash heralded the arrival of another Olympian.

Percy looked around at once and saw that it was Poseidon. "Dad" he said respectfully, giving his father a short bow.

Poseidon stepped forward wrapped his son in a strong hug. "How are you Percy?"

"I'm okay, thanks dad" said Percy.

Poseidon turned to Hera. "I thought Apollo said Percy could not receive visitors until he was discharged?" he asked with forced calmness, slightly angry that he had not gotten to visit his son first.

"That was the case" Hera tilted her head in acknowledgement. "However, Apollo made an exception for me, seeing that it was me Perseus rescued. Apollo thought it would do Perseus good to see me in excellent health, so he let me visit him" Hera said, excluding the fact that she had adopted Percy.

Percy was actually grateful, since he himself had not fully processed the events of last day and needed time to do so, before revealing it to others. Upon seeing Poseidon's skeptical look, Percy was quick to defend Hera's explanation.

"No, Dad, Lady Hera is telling the truth. I asked Lord Apollo to let her see me. I just had to see that she was fine, after giving up so much in an attempt to save her, you know?" Percy said, causing Hera to flash him a small smile.

With some slight hesitation, Poseidon accepted his son's statement. Suddenly he beamed at Percy with pride in his eyes. "Percy, I am so proud of you. Hera and Artemis told us all that happened. I really couldn't be any prouder of you."

Percy nodded in acknowledgement, happy that he had made his father proud yet again. He made a slight gesture towards the back of Poseidon, who turned and saw Jason still kneeling respectfully.

"Rise, nephew" Poseidon said immediately, a rueful expression briefly adorning his face. As Jason came forward to stand by Percy, Poseidon looked at the two with a smile. "I am happy to see that you two are getting along and watching out for each other. Jason, I thank you for standing at my son's side throughout the quest."

"It was what he did for me, milord. If you don't stand by family, who else is there for you to stand by?" Jason said, some of his Roman nature seeping into his tone.

Poseidon nodded approvingly, before turning to Percy once again. "Ah, son, before I forget. Zeus was busy taking care of important business and could not come to say this personally. He asked me to transmit this message to you. Jason, I believe your father has talked to you already?"

Percy turned to Jason questioningly as he answered in the affirmative. "You never told me your father visited you."

Jason grinned sheepishly. "Wasn't really anything to speak of. Dad just stayed for a short time, asked how me and Thalia were, thanked us for saving lady Hera and left" Jason explained. Percy nodded.

"Well, anyways" Poseidon broke in. "Zeus asked me to send you his thanks for saving Hera from Porphyrion's clutches. He did ask how you were getting along, but Apollo answered that one."

"That's all?" Percy asked.

"Well, do you really want to hear the extended version?" Poseidon asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

Percy's eyes grew slightly wider, although the emotion was just for his father's benefit. He shook his head emphatically. "I think the abbreviated version was just fine."

Zeus was known to make long pompous speeches even when they were not required. Percy also knew what Zeus' speech was going to revolve around. It would probably have been 10% thanking and praising Percy and Jason while 90% percent would somehow be put down to the Gods' greatness and majesty, even though Percy could not comprehend what good the Gods' amazing traits had done on the quest.

Except Artemis', of course. The Moon Goddess had fought amazingly under duress and had only been trapped by Porphyrion because he was the most powerful of the Giants, made to kill her father and because of a healthy dose of luck. Percy idly wondered why he was defending Artemis before discarding the thought.

He came back to earth just in time to hear Poseidon's chuckles stop. Hera and Jason both had amused twinkle in their eyes, probably due to his outrageous antics. "Well son, as much as I hate to do so, I really have to be going" said Poseidon. "As you know, Atlantis was more or less destroyed and I need to get back to the rebuilding of the games room" he said, drawing a chuckle from Percy.

Percy vividly remembered when he had asked his father to abandon Atlantis and help the other gods take down Typhon during the battle of Olympus. His father had moaned about having Atlantis destroyed and had spoken particularly about losing his game room which had taken more than half a century to build. He looked up to see that his father had a similar smile on his face, probably recalling the same event.

Poseidon then gave Percy a strong hug, cautioning him to take care of himself. He gave a final nod to Hera and even patted Jason on the back before disappearing in a swirling vortex of sea green, leaving behind the briny smell of the ocean when he left.

As soon as Poseidon was gone, Percy clapped his hands impatiently. "Okay, we really need to be getting back."

Jason smirked at his cousin's impatience and Hera barely stifled a chortle. "You may leave, demigods. Olympus thanks you for your services" she said formally, for the benefit of Jason. She longed to hug Percy in farewell but had resigned herself to the fact that she would have to wait until next time.

Percy however, had no such reservations. He immediately came forward and hugged her, briefly but tightly. "I'll miss you, mila… Mom" he whispered.

"I'll be there when you need me, Percy. Never fear to call me or Hestia for help" said the queen of the gods before pulling back.

Almost excitedly, Percy rushed to Jason's side and waving at her before closing his eyes and concentrating. Hera was about to ask him what he was doing when the two demigods abruptly disappeared amid a swirling mass of fire and water, leaving behind a crisp, comforting scent.

Hera could not recall Percy ever flashing in front of her and was amazed at him. Flashing was a skill never before developed by a demigod and he didn't even think of flaunting his newfound ability and boasting about it. She shook her head affectionately before disappearing herself.

Meanwhile, Percy and Jason appeared only a few meters behind the camp's borders. They had barely appeared when a joyous shout greeted them. Percy whirled to see a group of campers, probably assigned to patrol the borders of the camp, looking for trouble.

"It's Percy and Jason!" one of them yelled. As the group drew closer, Percy recognized Jake Mason of the Hephaestus cabin along with some of his siblings and a few sons of Athena.

Percy and Jason had barely said 'hi' before they were picked up onto the shoulders of the campers and borne into the camp towards the dining pavilion where lunch was going on. Along the way, many campers joined the small group until it came to the point that Percy and Jason had gained a comets tail by the time they reached their destination. As soon as Percy and Jason were on the ground, they were encircled by the campers, all of them offering congratulations on the successful quest.

Percy and Jason, although, were looking for their friends in particular. A sharp tapping suddenly got the campers to quiet down at once. It was, of course, Chiron, who had stomped onto the stone floor with considerable force as he usually did to get the campers' attention.

"Campers! I am sure you are happy about the return of two of our best campers, but would you please give them room to breathe!" he said, voice slightly authoritative although he too, was smiling. The campers parted, allowing Chiron through as he trotted up to the two demigods.

He put his hands on both the cousins' shoulders. "Lady Hestia told us news of your success. She also mentioned that you had been injured, Perseus. Are you alright?"

Percy nodded cheerily. "I'm completely okay now. It was just a little flesh wound" he said, making light of his injury

Chiron frowned slightly, but let it go. After being Percy's mentor for so long, he knew full well that what Percy described as a small flesh wound would have been a serious, possibly life-threatening injury. He settled for a slight smile. "Well, why don't you, uh, get reacquainted with your friends" he said, a slight catch in his tone, as if he was holding back a chuckle.

Percy picked it up immediately, but being the seaweed brain that he was, he did not grasp the meaning behind Chiron's behavior. However, once he turned away from Chiron and came face to face with a set of startlingly grey eyes, he caught on almost immediately. Alas, it was too late.

The crowd in the dining pavilion hurriedly dispersed, not wanting to be caught up in the middle of something when it happened. Those who had seen Annabeth in 'rage mode' were the first to beat hasty retreats. Out of the corner of his eyes, Percy made out his closest friends, in the middle of greeting Jason, a safe distance away and even at this distance he could make out the slight glare on Katie's face as she eyed him.

A sharp jolt of pain in his arm snapped him back to the immediate threat. "Oww!" he yelled. "What was that for?!"

"I thought I expressly told you to come back safe. And what do you do? You get yourself hurt" she almost yelled, certainly not hiding her fury.

During the trials courtesy of Athena and especially Lupa, Percy had learned to master his control over his emotions. Yet, even though most people would not have noticed, his eyes widened just the tiniest bit and he barely held down a slight shiver.

"I…Umm… It wasn't too bad?" Percy tried.

His reply did not do him any favors. "I was worried sick! When Hestia told us that you had been wounded and were indefinitely held up, I feared you weren't gonna come back!" she yelled.

Now, his eyes turned serious. "Look, Wise Girl, I more or less promised I'd come back to you. Have I ever broken a promise to you?" he asked.

"Umm, no, you haven't" Annabeth said, her tone wavering slightly. "That still doesn't mean you should get yourself hurt!" she said before punching his arm once more.

"Annabeth, We're demigods. We get loads of quests. You know there are chances of us getting wounded, or even killed" Percy said, looking her in the eyes. "Why are you so upset? I'm fine, aren't I?" he asked.

The anger in her body language suddenly disappeared and it was replaced by a grave, earnest demeanor. "Because, Percy, I don't want to lose you again. Because of my… my own pride and selfishness, I pushed you away once. I don't ever… want to go through that again" she admitted uncertainly.

All of a sudden Percy had enveloped her in his arms. Annabeth basked in the strength and comfort she found therein. "Percy, please. Promise me you'll never leave me. If I'm being stupid or something, talk some sense into me. Just don't… leave me again."

"I promise, Wise Girl" he said comfortably, leaning down and kissing her forehead and Annabeth sighed at the loving gesture. Inside, Percy was feeling glad that Annabeth had not asked to look at his wound as she would have gone into another rage.

Percy slowly broke away from the embrace but immediately put an arm around her waist as the two began walking towards their friends. "Hey guys" Percy said easily, drawing near to them.

Connor, Travis and Leo greeted him excitedly. Will Solace gave him a strong handshake and Clarisse, in typical Clarisse fashion settled for a not so gentle punch on his arm coupled with a rough "Hey, punk."

Katie merely glared at him. "So, this is what you call being fine, huh?"

"Well, yeah" Percy said. He spun slowly, before turning back to face Katie again. "See? I'm totally alright."

The others laughed at his childish behavior, and despite herself, Katie grinned. "Okay, okay. I won't get on your case. This time" she added, causing Percy to chuckle at her overprotectiveness. She came forwards and gave Percy a short hug.

The initial reunion over, Percy and Jason were dragged to the beach, sat down and more or less ordered to give a detailed account of their quest. They did so right up to where they had rescued Hera. When Percy did tell everyone how he had gotten hurt, everyone had understanding expressions on their faces. It was typical Percy, putting himself in mortal danger for someone who he did not even know, just because it appealed to his moral sense to do so.

By the time the recounting of the quest was finished, it was already growing dark. Soon after, the familiar sound of the conch horn was heard, summoning all the demigods to dinner and the group of friends started for the dining pavilion, keeping up a healthy stream of conversation along the way. After dinner Percy and Jason had begged off to sleep. Jason immediately headed off to his cabin eager for some sleep.

Before going to his cabin, Percy took Annabeth aside. "Hey, I know we're busy the next week doing our chores and completing the activities Chiron has given us, but once they're done, our chore tasks will be passed on and we'll be free for a couple days. What would you say to a day off with me?"

"Seaweed Brain, are you asking me out on a date?" Annabeth asked mischievously, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Umm, I don't… Well, if you want. I… That is..." he stuttered.

In her head, Annabeth rolled her eyes in amusement and exasperation. He could take on the king of titans without flinching, yet he was afraid of asking a girl out? She shut him up with a light kiss, putting her arms around his head. Percy responded, putting one arm around her waist and the other on her upper back. He was just beginning to deepen the kiss when Annabeth pulled back, just out of reach of his lips. "I'd love to" she whispered, before pulling back completely. "See you tomorrow, Seaweed Brain" she called out.

"Night!" he called back, before turning and heading off to his own cabin, unmistakably happy. He lay down on his bed, organizing his mind. Sleep was quick to come to him and he did not fight it. For Percy, deep comfortable sleep was a rare treat nowadays and he welcomed it when it came.

 ***One-week time skip***

The next week or so passed quickly. Percy and his friends were kept busy, what with chores, activities, training and patrols. The camp borders had been unnaturally peaceful the past week. Usually, some monsters would be drawn to the demigod scent inside the borders almost every day, but they would mostly be alone and easily dispatched. Chiron had asked the campers to be ready in case the monsters were grouping, waiting to build a small force before attacking. Percy, however, could see right through Chiron's tone and knew that the centaur had reached the same conclusion as him. Gaea was beginning to build her forces slowly but surely.

Percy mind was occupied by something else as well. This was the first morning where neither he nor Annabeth had any chores to speak of. They had agreed to meet up at the volleyball courts at about 12 noon. From there, Percy was going to take them to a location he had picked, and they would spend a few peaceful hours in each other's company. Percy had already gained Chiron's permission to leave camp for a bit.

In light of the occasion, Percy had made an effort to look presentable. He was wearing his jeans coupled with a dark green T-shirt. He had, with liberal use of water, tried to get his hair to lie flat and had been partly successful. His hair, while still a mess, was looking slightly tamer.

A voice came from behind him, causing him to whirl around. "Percy! Ready to go?"

Of course, it was Annabeth. She too, was wearing casual clothing that was borderline semi-formal. She was wearing blue jeans which hugged her curves nicely, accentuating the fact that she was blossoming into a woman, and a white blouse. She was wearing flats and had chosen to let her hair down. Usually while at camp, she would wear it in a ponytail to avoid her hair coming onto her face or blowing back, especially when she was working.

"You look really pretty" Percy commented at once.

A light blush adorned Annabeth's face as she subconsciously played with the hem of her blouse. "You clean up rather nicely as well, Percy" she said, patting his arm.

"Well, shall we?" Percy asked, the image of a complete gentleman as he held his arm out to Annabeth.

"Let's go already." Annabeth said, grasping his arm. "Ready when…" she was cut off as Percy teleported, and a bright orange flash engulfed them at once.

Appearing out of the vortex, Annabeth stumbled and would've fallen, had Percy not grasped her arm at the last moment.

"Thanks" she muttered, before turning around in a small circle and taking stock of her surroundings. She had not been surprised at Percy's teleportation as he had told his friends about it, and in addition had played a rather amusing prank on Travis and Connor, who themselves were considered the best tricksters at camp. Percy had teleported right into the Hermes cabin while the two were asleep. He'd made a small bubble of water to around Travis and Connor's bed to avoid disturbing anyone else and had put an alarm clock right by Connor's head. Having done that, he had dissipated the bubble and had teleported out silently.

The ear shattering howl of terror and surprise that had ensued from the Hermes cabin had roused the whole camp. Another unforeseen backlash from the prank had also developed. Many campers, especially the Ares ones had been thoroughly displeased at being woken up at 3am in the morning and the Stolls had been forced to spend the next few days warily on the lookout for a stray spear or a sword that had 'slipped' from someone's grasp. Thankfully, they had not yet figured out that Percy had been behind the prank and therefore, a prank war had not ensued.

As Annabeth turned, she saw that they were on a lonely stretch of beach. A large road ran by the shoulder of the beach, but no car was in sight and the harsh cawing of seagulls was the only sound to be heard. The sun was beating down on her shoulders and the sea seemed to emit an inviting aura. It too seemed to be unnaturally calm and Annabeth wondered if Percy had something to do with it, or if Poseidon was simply in a good mood. A short distance away a small, ramshackle cabin could be seen.

She turned back to Percy with a smile, letting him know she was happy with his choice. "Where are we, by the way?" she asked, her curious nature getting the better of her.

"Montauk Beach" Percy said simply. "My mom… me and her used to come here, just the two of us. It would be our summer retreat and we'd come here every summer, more often than not just to escape Gabe" he explained. A barely noticeable tinge of sadness was visible on his usually emotionless features, but a small spark of joy danced in his eyes simultaneously. He was both missing her mother and fondly remembering all the fun he had had with her.

Annabeth, of course, knew about Gabe since Percy had told her about him when they were on their first quest together, where they had been on a mission to rescue Percy's mother from the clutches of Hades, who was, at the time, terribly power hungry. Being neglected by his fellow Olympians for so long had ignited in him a flame of revenge, one that had been tamed because of several influences. Annabeth was touched that Percy had wanted to bring her here and, in a way, share with her the times he had shared with her mother.

"Percy, I really don't know what to say. I could never have imagined you would want me to share some of your dearest experiences with…" she was cut off as Percy pulled her into a kiss that left her breathless.

It was a soft, gentle kiss, yet Annabeth was shocked at its power. She had barely put her arms around his head before he pulled back abruptly. He grinned evilly at her and Annabeth groaned as his self-superior smirk stretched even more. All of a sudden, it was wiped off his face as she surreptitiously put her foot around his leg and pulled at a precise angle. He slammed to the ground with an audible 'Oomph'.

"Heyy! No fair!" he moaned.

"Race you to the water!" Annabeth yelled, already dashing off.

Halfway there, however, she was tackled around her midsection and rolled onto the soft sand. She looked up to see Percy grinning at her victoriously. He held his hand out for her to take to help her up and Annabeth reached up for it, only to pull him down on top of her as she yanked with all the strength she could muster.

Percy landed right on top of Annabeth, making her yelp at the sudden weight on her midriff. His perch was short lived, however, as Annabeth suddenly rolled him over, using the laws of physics to minimize the force needed to do so. Annabeth was now on top, straddling Percy as she chuckled at his expression. She looked deep into his eyes and saw happiness and joy reflected in the emerald pools and inside, she rejoiced at having another chance with him.

The two spent a few hours, just being normal teenagers as they chased each other across the sand and in the water, Percy's powers ensuring that the two remained dry unless they wanted to take a dip in the cool water. Around lunchtime, Percy summoned a light lunch for them, consisting of some sandwiches and lemonade. To Percy, the afternoon was perfect, and he could only recall a few times where he had had this much fun. Of course, a perfect day could mean only one thing in the life of a demigod like Percy. Something big was just around the corner. For the moment, though, the two relaxed and let the world shoulder its own problems.

As midday turned into afternoon and afternoon into late afternoon, Annabeth and Percy prepared to head back to camp, deciding to take a short walk before doing so. Annabeth leaned her head on Percy's shoulder contentedly as they walked, his arm around her waist.

"Thanks for the day, Percy. I had so much fun. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I had time to just relax and have fun" she murmured to him. His reply was to smile at her and kiss her sweetly, before pulling back and giving her his usual lopsided grin, which always got to her, causing her immeasurable comfort whenever he flashed it.

"I… I love you, Percy" Annabeth said hesitantly, gauging his reaction.

She was not disappointed. Percy stopped short at once, looking at her in utter amazement, as if he was seeing her for the first time. "You… love… wow" he trailed off, causing her to smirk slightly. He never was going to get a brain-to-mouth filter, and that was the way she liked it.

"I love you too" he replied once the power of speech had returned to him. Although she knew to some extent his feelings for her, Annabeth was surprised to hear him say the words so soon after reconciling with her. Her surprise did not stop her from hugging him strongly, her face buried in his shoulder.

She had just slipped out of his embrace when it happened. She happened to glance up and saw something… several somethings flying through the air. "Percy!" she yelled warningly.

Percy looked at where she was pointing and took stock of the situation in a heartbeat. Immediately, he tackled Annabeth out of the way and used his own momentum to get clear. Barely a second later about 15 arrows thudded into the ground right where they had been standing a few moments before. He glimpsed a small group of dracaena archers, already reloading their bows to fire another volley.

In a flash, Percy had removed riptide from his pocket and a second later, the blade appeared in his hand, glinting a harsh, sea green. Even in this precarious situation, Percy wanted to surprise Annabeth with his bow. All through the recounting of the events of the quest, Percy had taken care not to mention the bow and Jason too had kept silent about it. Annabeth too, had taken her dagger out from the waistband of her jeans, holding it in a ready position, although what she was going to do with it at this range was a mystery to Percy. He quickly glanced over at the monsters that had attacked them and realized why she had drawn her dagger, even as his heart fell.

The attack had not merely come from a squad of dracaena archers. Behind them had appeared a mass of marching monsters. Percy estimated that there were about a 100-120 monsters in total. They had appeared from behind the crest on the other side of the road and Percy mentally slapped himself for not staying more in tune to his surroundings. Among the monsters were the usual cyclopes, dracaenae and telekhines. Towering above them all was the minotaur, an old enemy of Percy's and there were several Laistrygonian giants marching along with the other monsters. They appeared to have no clear leader, yet, they were matching in loose ranks with a purpose that implied they had been sent to do the bidding of a higher being.

An idea came to Percy in a flash and he wanted to kick himself for not thinking of it sooner. He grabbed Annabeth's hand and tried to flash back to camp, where they could get many of the campers to combat the monsters. The familiar vortex appeared, and Percy almost sighed in relief. Abruptly, however, the flames petered out, leaving Annabeth and Percy still standing on the beach, hands clasped. Percy tried again, but to no avail.

Percy sighed in resignation. "Well, Wise Girl, I think we're gonna have to fight them after all" he commented lightly.

A gleam of determination shone in Annabeth's eyes. "Let's do this Seaweed Brain."

At that very moment, Percy sheathed riptide. The sun was now nearing the horizon, telling Percy that they had around an hour or so until darkness prevailed. Annabeth turned to look at him incredulously. "Why are you putting riptide away?!"

"I have a surprise for you" Percy said cheerily, twisting his ring.

"What do you…" Annabeth stopped talking as she saw the intricately carved bow appear in Percy's hands. She had never seen such a bow in her life, except for, perhaps, with lady Artemis. She couldn't say for sure, since she had never really looked at the moon Goddess' bow closely.

She gasped in astonishment when he put his fingers to the string and an arrow appeared, ready to nock. Percy calmly drew the bow and let the arrow fly, following it up with more as fast as he could. Annabeth looked towards the monsters and saw the arrows flying over the advancing monsters... straight into the vital spots of the dracaenae archers who were getting ready to fire another volley of arrows at them. She watched in perplexity as each and every one of the arrows found its mark, until in less than 10 seconds, the whole group of dracaenae archers had been dispatched to Tartarus. Percy was widely regarded as the worst archer who had ever arrived at camp half blood. Yet, here he was using a bow, his accuracy much better than even the children of Apollo, probably even on par with the huntresses of Artemis.

"How did… When?" she stuttered, causing him to smile briefly, even as he continued firing arrows into the oncoming horde of monsters.

"A gift" he explained briefly. "I'll explain later." Inside, he did not know whether he was ready to reveal the fact that he had been adopted by the queen of the gods, but he did owe Annabeth an explanation of the bow, at least, so he resolved to tell her about it later. In his mind, his resolve was strong and there was no doubt that both him and Annabeth were going to get back to camp safely.

When the monsters were close, Percy willed the bow back into a ring and drew riptide. He pressed Annabeth's hand briefly before releasing it. Percy had destroyed about 20 additional monsters, leaving about 90 odd for them. The foremost cyclops roared challengingly, bringing his sword down in a horizontal slash. Percy easily dodged the blow angling himself slightly diagonally, so the sword whistled past before slashing a deep line across the cyclops' torso, which immediately lead to the unfortunate cyclops being blown away by the wind as he turned into dust.

Percy began hacking his way through the monsters, glancing at Annabeth in case she was in trouble and needed help. He needn't have, however, since Annabeth, who was a few feet to his left, seemed to be doing an amazing job. She was fighting furiously, hacking, slashing and stabbing monsters left and right. As he looked again, he saw a cyclops in the act of bringing a sword down on Annabeth and his mind went into overdrive. He leapt to his left and parried the cyclops' blow just in time, before stabbing the offending cyclops in the chest. He had tried using his powers multiple times but had found he couldn't, even though the sea was right there. Frustrated, he faced his next opponent, which turned out to be the minotaur.

The bull-man had been hanging back up to this moment. "Okay, ugly, let's see if you've learned something after last time. Show me what you got" Percy yelled, causing the minotaur to let out a deep roar of outrage. He proceeded to slash his axe at Percy, who ducked in the nick of time before drawing a light gash in the monster's passing arm. The minotaur roared again, and hefted his axe, swinging it down with every ounce of power he possessed. Percy rolled out of the way in a flash and the axe sunk deep into the sand. The cyclops pulled with all his strength and managed to free the axe. He was about to swing it again when his tiny brain comprehended the fact that Percy was now nowhere to be seen. "Huh?" he rumbled confusedly.

"Right here, pea brain" came a voice behind him. The minotaur turned just in time to see the celestial bronze sword bury itself into his chest and instantly exploded into dust. Percy had, at first intended to toy with the minotaur slightly but recent developments had changed his mind. Another, smaller group, numbering about 50 monsters had appeared over the crest. He had quickly finished off the minotaur before rushing to Annabeth's side again, killing monsters as he went. Again, he took hold of her arm, squeezing it reassuringly.

He had turned to fight a group of telekhines on his right flank when it happened. "Percy, behind you!" Annabeth shrieked warningly and Percy quickly killed the telekhines with a sweeping stroke before turning to look behind him. He froze. A nasty looking spear was headed right for him, and Percy realized that despite his superhuman reflexes, he would not be able to jump out of the way of the oncoming spear, or deflect it with his sword, as it was barely 5 feet away and incoming fast.

He looked right at the spear, his eyes riveted to the instrument of his death. Alone, Annabeth would not be able to fight the monsters, and when both of them were down, there would be no chance of healing for either of them. The next moment, however, his view of the javelin was obscured as a body rushed in between, taking his place. The body jerked to one side as the spear entered it with the force of a shot harpoon and fell to the ground.

With a gut-wrenching shock, Percy realized that it was Annabeth. She had thrown herself into the path of the spear he had not been able to block or defend himself from in time. They had taken her from him, his mind growled. The shock, grief and the sorrow were suddenly replaced by an oncoming wave of extreme rage. Percy began to glow as bright as a lesser immortal in divine form and in a flash, power rushed through him once more and he realized immediately that he had his powers back.

He began to lose control as fury overpowered him. He hastily formed an unbreakable shield of water ringed with blazing fire around Annabeth's prone body before his power rushed out. He slammed his fists into the ground, simultaneously shouting "Chaos!" in a voice that was not his own. When he would recall the incident an hour or so later, he would realize that, at the time, he had no idea why he had said it.

The results of the sudden escape of energy, were, in a word, explosive. A colossal wave of fire and crystallized water flew outwards to all sides with Percy in the middle. In a second, the entire army of monsters had been literally vaporized as the wall of energy continued outwards, dissipating only after a 3-mile radius on every side of Percy had been utterly wrecked. Impossibly large cracks had formed in the ground from an earthquake he had involuntarily released in the initial outburst and of the few trees that had been present in the area, many were now lying uprooted. The sea was mirroring the emotions of its prince as huge waves began to form, heading not towards the shore, but out to sea, as if he truly was in the middle of his own nuclear explosion.

Percy looked around him, completely at a loss for words, amazed at the hidden power he possessed and had just released. The surprise did not last long as he rushed to Annabeth with worry and pain in his eyes. To his surprise, she was still conscious, the awareness still present in her eyes. Due to his supernatural senses, he immediately isolated Annabeth's wound and almost gasped in horror. The wound had punctured her chest, breaking a rib on its way in and had missed her heart by a few millimeters, if that. The wound was tinged a sickly yellow around the edges, and Percy realized with dread that the spear tip had probably been coated with a fast-acting poison, not something which most monsters treated their weapons with. He knew now that this attack had been carefully planned and executed. He did not even know how they had found out where he was. Percy forced himself to turn his attention to Annabeth, removing the negative thoughts currently assailing his mind.

"Hey" Annabeth said weakly, attempting a smile.

"Why did you do that?" Percy asked quietly.

"Because…" she broke into a fit of coughing before trying again. "Because… Because you're worth it."

"Not so much that it should take precedence over your own safety!" Percy said, voice slightly raised.

"I don't think you realize your own worth, Percy" she said simply. She paused as another fit of coughing overtook her. This time, blood trickled out of her mouth, signifying that there had been internal bleeding. "I'm really gonna miss you, Seaweed Brain" she said sincerely, looking into his eyes.

"No! Annabeth, we are not doing this!" Percy said strongly. "I have healing powers. I can heal you. Just lie still" he said quickly, although even he knew that given the extent of her injury, even Apollo could not save her now.

"Come on. Get real, Percy, we both know I'm… dying" she said. As hurt showed plainly on Percy's face, she relented, reaching up and cupping his face with one of her hands. Reflexively, Percy's own hand came up to cover her hand with one of his own, caressing it lovingly. "I didn't mean that like it sounded. I just…" she trailed off.

"Shh, it's okay" he whispered gently, kissing her hand lightly, noting as he did that the hand was colder than it had been just a moment ago.

Annabeth sighed, long and deep. "I wish we…"

"Had more time?" he cut in, attempting a weak smile.

Annabeth smiled wryly, although Percy could see it cost her to do so. "Right. Well, there's something I want you to promise me."

"Anything" Percy said at once.

She clutched his hand tighter. "After I… I pass away, don't let yourself be caught inside your 'Percy Syndrome'" she said, smirking slightly.

"Syndrome? I don't have any syndrome!" Percy said defiantly.

"Yes Percy, you do. You tend to blame yourself for stuff that wasn't even in your power to control. What happened now, for instance. I took that spear for you because I wanted to. You didn't shove me in its path, did you?"

"Well, no, but it is indirectly my fault. If I had just had a better idea of my surroundings, I…"

"The hell you could've!" Annabeth raised her voice. "You are not omnipotent, and you cannot be expected to never make a mistake."

As Percy opened his mouth again, Annabeth silenced him with a serious look. "Back to the topic. You have to promise me Percy." Here, she broke into a violent fit of coughing, blood trickling from her mouth again. She was taking shallow breaths now and Percy knew that death was now hovering over her.

"I… I promise." He stumbled over the reply, hesitant even now.

Annabeth smiled at him again, although now, it was more of a grimace. "You'd better keep it. Percy, I want you to find meaning to your life. Don't just wallow in self-loathing and guilt forever and ever."

"I'll… try" he said, not even knowing how he would accomplish that.

"Good. Now come here and give me a kiss" she said commandingly, the familiar flicker back in her eyes.

Percy immediately consented to her wish, and under the dying rays of the sun, he leaned down and gave Annabeth a kiss, gently as he could. He leaned back and smiled at her, his eyes slightly moist.

Annabeth looked into his eyes and was struck by how sad he was. A tear trickled down her face before she could stop it and immediately, Percy's hand came up and wiped it away tenderly. She was deeply moved by the affection he was showing her. A small part of her wanted to tell Percy to try and heal her but she knew that if he did try and ended up failing, he would never forgive himself, and as she had said, would drown himself in his misery and guilt.

Annabeth looked into his eyes one final time, losing herself in his intense orbs. Percy saw the love reflected in her eyes and wished there was a way to save her. Wished they could have more time. Wished they could have a chance and go the distance, find out what they could truly have together.

"I love you, Seaweed Brain" Annabeth said softly, her eyes brightening as she did. In that moment, she looked as if nothing had happened and there was nothing wrong in her world. Percy recognized the steely grey glint in her eyes, noting intense emotion in them as well.

"I love you too, Wise Girl" he said honestly, his hands beginning to shake.

Annabeth looked deep into his eyes and smiled, heartfelt emotion making its way onto her face as Percy kissed her knuckles softly. The next moment, Percy felt her hand go limp and the light in her eyes disappeared forever, as Annabeth left the world. Left him and passed on to her next great adventure.

Behind Percy, there was a sudden series of bright flashes. Percy turned around at once, releasing Annabeth's hand and standing up, ready to draw his sword at a moment's notice. He saw that nearest to him was Hera, who was taking in the scene around her with undisguised stupefaction. As soon as she noticed Percy, with Annabeth lying close to his feet she rushed towards him, not bothering to hide the worry in her eyes.

Without a further word, Percy wrapped his arms around her and as he felt comforting waves wash over him and smelt the briny, salty scent of the ocean, realized that Hera was not alone. At this point, he did not care.

His churning emotions finally sent the message to his brain. Annabeth was dead. The hole already present in his heart expanded and ruptured, too painful to bear. The dam finally broke its resistance against the flood and Percy let the tears sting his eyes and roll down his cheeks.

Far, far away, many light years from Earth, a being of immense power was seated on a throne. A throne from whence the being could see whatever captured its fancy. In its mind's eye, the being replayed the events it had just witnessed and reflected upon the previous deeds and conduct of the object of its interest.

"Yes" the being said, in a voice so laden with power it would make Gaea herself seem insignificant. "Finally. He has been found."

AN: Welp, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It certainly was long enough. Reviews would be much appreciated, they really do help. Unless they're just stupid flame reviews, in which case they aren't doing anyone any good. Abstain from those, yeah? I'll be seeing you guys soon. Peace!

-HOA11


	9. Chapter 9

◢◤ **Chapter 9** ◢◤

 **Hiya fellas! All I got to say this time is enjoy the chapter ! And read the AN at the end if you're so inclined. It's important-ish.**

 **Disclaimer: Yeah. The characters and the rest of the PJO universe ain't mine, as much as I wish they were. I gain no monetary benefits from this.**

 **The dam finally broke its resistance against the flood and Percy let the tears sting his eyes and roll down his cheeks.**

Percy stayed in Hera's comforting embrace for what seemed like an eternity. Finally composing himself, he took a small step back and looked at Hera gratefully. "I… Thank you, Mom" he said softly. He looked over her shoulder and saw Poseidon and Hestia, proving that he had felt their presences correctly.

Quickly, he walked to his father and hugged him tightly. Poseidon, however, did not return his son's hug immediately, as he had a rather confused look on his face and was looking between Percy and Hera in bewilderment. Percy contained the sigh of resignation that threatened to escape his lips.

He knew that the time when he would have to tell his father of Hera's adoption of him was at hand. He shot Hera a covert look and noticed the same expression on her visage. Upon catching him looking at her, she nodded tightly, letting Percy know that he had her permission to tell Poseidon if he so wanted.

"Thanks for coming dad" Percy said quietly before turning and hugging Hestia, who awaited him with a sad smile and open arms.

"I ahh… why… you're welcome" Poseidon trailed off, doubly surprised.

Percy almost melted in Hestia's embrace, such was its power. Tendrils of soothing light were shooting into him in copious amounts and Percy gave Hestia a grateful look before stepping back.

Poseidon found his voice and could not contain an outburst. "What is the meaning of this !? What is going on ?!" he said with a raised voice, the air around him shimmering with the power he was releasing.

Hera was about to speak up, and by the looks of it, rather angrily too, but Percy came in between them almost immediately, putting his arm on his father's shoulder soothingly.

"Dad, I'll… explain everything in a while. Right now, we need to get to Olympus and take Annabeth... Annabeth's body with us. Her mother will want to know" Percy said, keeping his tone respectful. Upon seeing the conflicted look in Poseidon's eyes, Percy immediately said "Please dad. Do it for me, if not for Annabeth."

Having made up his mind, Poseidon nodded once. "But I will want an explanation of what is going on here."

"And you shall have it. On Olympus, if you wish" Hera stepped in. "Everything shall be explained, but we must first honor Perseus' wish and transport the body to Olympus. Doubtless, Athena will want to see her daughter as well."

Poseidon nodded gruffly before snapping his fingers and transporting himself, Percy and Annabeth's prone form. The other two Olympians immediately followed, disappearing in successive bursts of bright light.

As they appeared, Percy immediately took stock of his surroundings and saw that they were in the throne room on Olympus. Poseidon raised his hand and his trident coalesced out of thin air, shimmering with power. He raised it above his head and sent up a powerful burst of godly power

Almost immediately there were flashes of light as the rest of the Olympians teleported in. At once, all eyes turned to Percy standing next to a still body. It took a moment to settle in before suddenly, Athena had rushed to her fallen daughter and had knelt beside her, checking for vitals. She drew back, a melancholy expression on her face which she did not even bother to mask.

"Annabeth. She's... dead" Athena announced to the gods who had been looking on with breaths bated.

Immediately, there was an uproar as Apollo and Hermes started whispering to each other rather loudly and some of the goddesses, mainly Demeter, starting murmuring amongst themselves. Zeus, quick to grow irritated, slammed his lightning bolt onto the floor, letting loose an ear shattering clap of thunder that silenced the Olympians immediately.

"What is the meaning of this? Poseidon, you called the council" Zeus said, turning to his brother. "What happened here?"

"I am afraid I do not know all of the details. Perseus was involved, however. He probably knows what happened."

On cue, everyone turned to Percy. "The stage is yours, boy" Zeus said grandly, sitting down on his throne.

Percy took a minute to compose himself. He was not a deity, and so, his eardrums had nearly shattered from the force of the blast Zeus had released. Presently, however, he began his account, starting from when the two demigods had gone to the beach to spend a day together right up to where Hera, Hestia and his father had appeared.

He told them all about the army that had attacked him and Annabeth as they prepared to leave. His voice cracked slightly when he got to the part where Annabeth threw herself into the path of the oncoming spear for him.

The gods listened in slight amazement as Percy told them everything. Obviously, Percy had shown great skill in defeating countless hordes of monsters with a large risk to his own life, but somehow, he managed to keep himself put of the spotlight, focusing instead on how well Annabeth had fought and how brave she had been to throw down her life for his.

By the end of it, some of the gods were grieved, Athena most of all. Surprisingly, it was Poseidon who had left his throne to comfort her, putting a hand on her shoulder to get her to compose herself. After a little effort, Athena managed it and gave Poseidon a slight, watery smile to which he nodded and then returned to his own throne.

Hestia then voiced the question that had been running through the minds of more than a few of the Olympians. "But how did the monsters find them in the first place? It's not like such an army would just happen upon two lone demigods. They were sent by someone for sure."

"But how? And by whom?" Apollo questioned.

"Gaea" Percy and Athena said at once. They looked at each other in a moment of unity before Athena pressed on. "It could only have been Gaea. The way the army just seemed to appear. Gaea controls the earth. She could have opened up a chasm from where the monsters would emerge close to Perseus and my… my daughter. Besides, she is the only one who openly opposes us now. Killing Perseus would be a large advantage, as he is more or less the unofficial leader of the campers and is the best demigod warrior to boot" Athena said frankly.

The gods were stupefied at Athena's bluntly honest admission about Perseus and it was a while before most of them could find their voice.

Artemis, who had retained her cool demeanor throughout, now nodded at Athena's explanation. "It does make sense, sister. What do you think we should do?"

"I don't think there's anything we can do" Athena said helplessly. "We can't even take precautions against another attack such as this. Perseus says his powers were bound somehow. It can only have been the work of Gaea. We can only hope that she expended most of her power doing so and won't have enough power for another such attack."

Most of the gods, having recovered their wits by now, nodded in joint acceptance. Zeus turned to Percy with a furrowed brow. "Perseus you said that after Annabeth went down, there was still a large number of monsters remaining. How did you manage to destroy them alone?"

Some of the gods leaned forwards in their thrones as the same thought had been nagging at some of them. Artemis, as always, looked indifferent. Dionysus was concentrating on a wine magazine, and Percy doubted he was paying attention either.

He hesitated slightly before answering. "Well, I managed to somehow break the shield thingy that was surrounding the area" Percy said. Some of the gods barely contained chuckles at his not so articulate explanation while Hera and Poseidon both smiled in affection. "And, well, then I managed to kill them. Got lucky, I guess" he finished modestly.

"Well, he more than managed to kill them" Hestia said dryly. "He… Well… Why don't I just show you?" she said, waving her left hand smoothly. At once, the fire in hearth rose until it resembled a roughly circular screen.

An image of Montauk beach appeared in the flames, barely recognizable. Even Percy himself was shocked. He had never imagined that he was that powerful, or could unleash that much energy spontaneously. The area had been turned into a mess. Trees were lying here and there, uprooted, a couple of them even lying on the road and deep cracks had scarred the terrain and the road alike for a few miles in every direction. The sea, Percy noticed, was calmer and the storm that had been brewing had disappeared, probably due to Poseidon's calming influence on it.

Even the gods were shocked. Percy had never thought he'd see a god's mouth dropping open in shock, yet, Hermes was doing an impressive imitation of a fish, his eyes bulging slightly. Even Zeus looked slightly shaken, his eyes roving over the image in the flames. The only ones who weren't showing surprise were Poseidon, Hera and Hestia since they had already seen it. Dionysus was doing a good job of appearing unconcerned and Artemis, as usual, looked completely unfazed, except for a slight glimmer in her eyes.

Hestia made the image disappear with another wave of her hand, and the flames returned to their original size. The gods were conversing amongst themselves and Zeus was looking at Percy slightly suspiciously. "So much power in the hands of one demigod" he muttered, more to himself the an anyone.

Poseidon was quick to rise to his feet. "Brother, do not even entertain the notion. I know what you're thinking. Percy has been nothing but loyal to Olympus, and you forget that he is my son. His fatal flaw is loyalty, for Hades' sake."

"Hey!" Hades objected from his throne, although if one looked closely, a faint upward quirk of Hades' lips could be noticed.

Zeus glanced at Percy once more before turning back to Poseidon. "Okay, brother. I will not harm Percy, provided he remains loyal to Olympus."

Percy answered before his father could even open his mouth. "Of this, you have my oath, lord Zeus. I would never go against Olympus."

Zeus nodded gruffly. "Okay then, boy. You are free to go."

"Not so fast!" Poseidon interjected. "You owe me an explanation, Percy" he said.

Percy nodded. "I did promise" he admitted. "Well, my lords and ladies, this is something you should know as well" he said in a louder voice to reach all of the Olympians without difficulty.

Although most of the deities had no idea what Percy was even talking about, some of them found themselves leaning forward in their seats in anticipation. "Well… uhh… My lady Hera… she uhh" Percy faltered, feeling slightly self conscious.

Hera let him off the hook. "I think what Perseus means to tell you all is that I have adopted him" she stated calmly.

Uproar was immediate. Zeus was looking at her aghast. Poseidon, on the other hand, looked as it he wanted to strangle the queen of the gods. The rest of the deities had varying expressions of surprise on their faces. Out of all of them, Hestia was the only one who seemed to be calm, and she even had a small smile on her face, indicating her amusement.

Zeus finally found his voice. "You what!? How could you!? You're the goddess of marriages and fidelity! This is clear betrayal of our marriage vows" he blurted, too incensed to think clearly about what he was saying.

Hera turned on him at once, radiating immense power, making Zeus flinch slightly. Percy, having never seen Hera angry, looked on in amazement. "You would talk to me of marriage vows? Of fidelity? I can hardly count the number of times you've been with mortal women behind my back." Even angered, Hera was keeping her cool, her voice calm and her expression passive, although Percy could see the anger in her eyes and in the way she held her body. Aside from that, Hera was radiating anger and it was visibly shimmering around her in a cold white sheet of light. "Furthermore, adopting Percy is not a breaking of my vows. It's not as if I birthed him myself" Hera said acidly.

With each of her statements, the mighty lord of the skies, Zeus shrank back slightly in his throne, mayhaps at the look Hera was giving him. "Uh, dear, may we discuss this later?" he asked Hera delicately.

Hera favored him with an exasperated huff. Apollo broke the silence with a soft laugh. "Well, we know who the boss in this relationship is anyways" he commented dryly, making some of the other gods chuckle in mirth. Zeus did nothing but glare at his son.

"We are done with this" Hera said dismissively.

Poseidon jumped to his feet. "We certainly are not! Who even gave you permission to adopt my son?!"

Hera got right in his face. "Who decreed that I had to ask you for permission, Poseidon? The choice was mine and mine alone. It was up to Perseus to accept or reject my offer. In any case, you had no say in his matter."

Poseidon was about to reply heatedly when Perseus broke in. The demigod had been watching from the sidelines but had decided to step in when he saw that things were starting to get heated. "Dad. Please stop. Lady Hera asked me for permission to adopt me. I accepted at once. There is no reason to fight. I am still your son, am I not?"

Poseidon seemed to accept this before another thought came to him. "But what about Sally!? You already have a mother, and you can't forsake her for Hera, goddess though she may be."

At his words, Perseus' eyes darkened with a glimmer of anger and a slight flicker of loss. A couple of the gods gasped as a ring of fire surrounded Percy. "You mean to tell me you don't know?" he asked, voice lowered.

"Know what?" Poseidon asked confusedly. "This is besides the point, Percy. What about Sally!?"

"My mother is dead!" Percy roared in anguish, causing flames 20 feet high to escape from his body. A scab on his heart opened up again as the topic of his mother was brought up so publicly.

Stunned, Poseidon could only look at his son. "Wha… When? How?" he asked, finding his voice.

"You didn't know" Percy said to himself numbly, realization dawning. He was quick to explain. "A few dracaenae. Attacked their apartment. Killed both mom and Paul… I… I was too late" Percy said, head lowered in sadness, the flames around him dying away.

Next moment, he was enveloped in Poseidon's arms. Percy had not even noticed the flames, nor their disappearance, yet he felt his father's arms around him and looked up, trying to give him a smile of gratitude. He failed.

Poseidon looked at him with a sad smile. "You couldn't have done anything. I'm actually ashamed of myself right now. It has been too long since I have checked up on her. I'm sorry, Percy. I don't even know how long you've been in this state."

Percy looked his father in the eye. "I was not without comfort, dad. Lady Hera and Lady Hestia found me afterwards and offered me comfort. I have grown close to them both, and they to me. I think" he added uncertainly. Hera and Hestia both smiled in assent.

"We have, young hero" Hestia supplied for his benefit.

"When my lady Hera asked me about the adoption, I was a bit hesitant, but after thinking about it a minute, I accepted. Lady Hera is, to me, much like mom was, giving me comfort and caring for me as only a mother could. I figure that, rather than an insult to mom, I'm doing her an honor by remembering her through my lady" he bowed his head toward Hera, who was smiling softly in pride. In truth, all the gods had been taken aback at his fierce defense of Hera.

Poseidon nodded, a smile now adorning his own weathered visage. He turned his face to his sister/sister- in-law. "In that case, you have my gratitude for taking care of my son, Hera. I apologize for my outburst."

Hera took it graciously. "Of course. You could not have known this beforehand. All is well."

Athena was the one to break the silence that fell afterwards. "Of course!" she said rather loudly before shaking her head and muttering.

"What is it, daughter?" asked Zeus. Artemis snorted lightly, so that even Percy with his heightened senses barely heard it.

Athena looked up distantly before her eyes sharpened and gained focus. "Do you people mean to tell me you guys didn't notice?"

"You know we didn't, Athena. Come on, spill the beans" Aphrodite said impatiently.

"He just somehow summoned flames, and you're saying you didn't notice?" Athena asked incredulously.

A sudden silence dropped upon the room as most of the Olympians suddenly took on various expressions of chagrin. Hera and Hestia were as cool as cucumbers, as could be expected. Having figured it out already, Artemis too, had an emotionless expression on her face.

"Ah… yes…" Apollo trailed off.

Athena waved her hands impatiently. "So, I asked myself. How does Perseus have the ability to summon fire? He is not a son of Hephaestus nor is he blessed by him. Apollo's blessed demigods do not gain fire powers. That leaves Hestia. But Hestia has never blessed a demigod before" Athena listed off, before glancing at Percy piercingly. Her eyes seemed to go right through him as if she was trying to X-ray him.

The gods turned to Percy for the answer. The demigod had just opened his mouth to speak when Hestia stepped forward to stand beside him. "There is a first time for everything, is there not?" she asked simply, looking at Athena.

Athena nodded with a small self satisfied smirk. The smirk brought many memories to Percy's mind. Countless times in the past, Annabeth had favored him with the same expression when she had solved a particularly difficult problem. The gods, meanwhile, merely stared, shocked. Even Dionysus was paying attention now, and Apollo's eyes had widened to comical proportions.

Hestia snapped her fingers irritably and as if a spell had just been broken, Apollo's mouth snapped shut. "Come now. Does it really come as such a surprise to you all? I think all of you would be forced to admit, although some more grudgingly than others, that Perseus is one of, if not the greatest demigod who has ever lived." Here, her eyes found Ares, who nodded, although grumpily. "Furthermore, he has done me a favor I would be hard pressed to repay" she said, glancing at her throne. "And I am happy to say I do not regret it. Perseus has proved his worth and I have deemed him worthy of receiving my blessing. Does anyone have an objection against that?" she asked, finding the eyes of everyone in the room, one by one, and holding her gaze on them for a short time.

As one the Olympians shook their heads before settling in their thrones again. Zeus looked as if he had wanted to voice his thoughts, but had refrained. It may have had something to do with the glare Hera had turned upon him, but Percy was not sure. Hestia gave him a light pat on the shoulder before returning to her throne.

Now, Percy spoke. "My lords and ladies, I would now ask a favor from you if you are willing to listen."

Zeus looked around at each of the Olympians in turn. When he did not receive any objections, he nodded his head. "Go ahead then" he said gruffly.

"I request that you let me have a… a short break, if you will. From everything. I would like to leave camp for a time and return when I am ready to do so."

Zeus' eyebrows rose in suspicion. "I do not like this, Nephew. What if you turned against us? Or joined one of Olympus' enemies? I cannot allow you to become a threat to Olympus" he declared.

"My lord Zeus, uncle, you already have my oath of loyalty. I will remain true to it and when Olympus has need of me, I shall return" Percy said, trying to be diplomatic.

Zeus considered his words for a long minute. Finally, he nodded his head in assent. "Well, if you so wish, you may leave your camp for a while. Gaea, although she is gaining power, is still a long way away from returning to her body. Apollo said that we have at least 2-3 years before that happens. I am sure she used her final vestiges of her energy to revive the giant king, Porphyrion, and it will take time for her to regain that power. Does anyone object!?" he said loudly, his words ringing around the throne room.

Again, no one objected. Percy bowed to Zeus and rose with a grateful expression. "Thank you, my lord. I will not give you cause for regret over this decision."

"You'd better not" Zeus deigned to mutter and received a glare from Poseidon and a disapproving look from his wife. "As for Annabeth Chase. A funeral shroud will be burned in her honor at camp after dinner tonight. She was a great hero and architect to boot. She will be remembered. May she attain Elysium" he said. His last words were echoed by a few of the deities.

Zeus now rose. "Is there anything else to discuss?" he asked of the room at large. Receiving no affirmative responses, Zeus stood up, gave the occupants of the throne room a regal nod and held his hand out to Hera.

"I'll be along in a bit" Hera told him.

Zeus frowned slightly, and then flashed away with a clap of thunder while a bolt of lightning struck the ground he had been standing on.

"Show off" Apollo uttered with a smile, not unkindly, before flashing away after a smile and a wave to Percy.

The other gods followed suit, a few of them stopping on the way to talk to Percy. Hades stopped by Percy, and apologized for Annabeth's death. Percy asked about how Nico was doing in the underworld. Hades supplied that Nico was now officially a prince of the underworld and was helping his father keep the peace.

Aphrodite too, stopped by. Percy had noticed her giving him slightly unsettling stares during the meeting and he had done his best to ignore her. "My my, Percy, how handsome you've gotten" Aphrodite said huskily, pushing herself at him.

Percy dodged. "This is not the time Aphrodite. Please, leave me alone."

"Oh, but you'd enjoy my company. I could take your mind of Annabeth and everything else that's happened" she said suggestively leaning forward.

"No!" he raised his voice. "Leave me alone!"

"Best do as he says, Aphrodite" Athena said, suddenly appearing at Percy's shoulder. Behind her, Hestia, Poseidon and Hera were standing in a rough circle, conversing in hushed tones, glancing his way now and then.

Aphrodite seemed to consider for a moment to defy her sister but one look at the expression in Athena's piercing grey eyes was enough to quell the feeling. "Okay, okay" she grumbled. "I'll go. But this isn't over Percy" she said, winking at Percy before disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

Percy groaned weakly. "Thank you, my lady" he said, bowing to Athena.

"Of course" she replied. "Perseus, I uh… want you to know that I do not blame you for Annabeth's death in the slightest" she said sincerely. "Also, you should not blame yourself. Her decision was hers alone and there was nothing you could have done to change it. Do not dishonor her memory by saying that her sacrifice was your doing" she said, her expression darkening slightly as she said the last part.

A weight that Percy didn't even know he'd been carrying was lifted off his shoulder, even as he tried to hide a shiver. Predictably, hearing Athena, the goddess of logic, pointing it out to him made him believe that he had not been at fault.

"Thank you, my lady. My condolences for your loss" Percy said formally.

Athena surprised him by laying her hand on his shoulder. "I know what my daughter meant to you, Perseus, and I know what you meant to her. I am sorry that everything ended before it could even rightly begin. Do come back safely" she said, tipping her head toward the ground. "Excuse me, I must have some time to mourn" she said.

Percy bowed respectfully, and Athena disappeared amid a smoky grey flash. Next, it was Poseidon who came to his son.

"Son, I'm sorry for your loss. I know how you must be feeling."

"Thanks dad" Percy said honestly.

"You're welcome to come down to Atlantis with me and stay for as long as you want" Poseidon offered.

Percy smiled at his father. "Thanks a lot, dad, but I can't. I think I need some time alone."

"Well, okay son" Poseidon said. He wrapped his son in a strong hug. "Be safe."

"I'll try" Percy said. Poseidon then flashed away in his signature sea green mist.

Hestia and Hera now approached him. Hestia got there first and pulled Percy into a hug. "Stay safe, my champion. Stay in touch and remember. I will always be there for you. When you most lack hope, come to the hearth. You will find solace" she said solemnly. "I am sorry about Annabeth Chase. She truly was a one of the greatest demigods I've known."

Percy smiled at her when he pulled back. "Thank you, my lady. I will remember your words."

Hestia smiled sadly before disappearing in a swirl of warm orange fire.

Hera now came forward. "From the moment I saw you on that beach, I figured you were going to do something like this, so it doesn't really surprise me" Hera sighed. "It doesn't mean that I like it in the slightest. Would you mind telling me what your plans are?"

Percy suddenly looked abashed. "Well, I don't really have one. All I've figured out as yet is that I have to get away from everything. For a while, at least. I just need something to take my mind off… today" he explained.

"Well, I have an idea, if you're willing to hear."

"Of course, my la… mom" Percy said.

"How about you spend some time with the amazons?"

"The amazons?" Percy said in consternation.

Herald mistook his tone for confusion. "Yes, the amazons. They're a tribe of…"

"Female warriors who set up the online retailer company as a front" Percy cut in with a smirk.

Hera could not conceal her surprise. "How do you…?"

"I learnt a lot when I was at camp Jupiter. Reyna, the praetor told me about them" Percy explained.

"I see" Hera nodded in understanding. "Staying with them for a while has its benefits. As their patron goddess, it will be easy enough for me to get them to let you stay for a while."

"What good'll that do me?" Percy questioned, still slightly confused.

"There's a couple of benefits. Firstly, you'll be able to train with the amazons. Their fighting styles and battle prowess are quite amazing. It would also help to get your mind off… recent events" Hera faltered. "Also, I will be able to more or less know how you're doing at any given time."

At hearing of being able to train, Percy's eyes had glinted in interest. "Okay, I'm hooked. Can you take me to them?"

"Of course" Hera smiled. "I'll come to camp after Annabeth's ceremony, if that is alright with you."

"Perfect! Thanks, mom" Percy said with a smile. Hera returned the smile and gave Percy a quick hug.

"I'll flash Annabeth's body to the big house. Chiron will know what to do" Hera told him.

"Thank you. I'll see you later, then?" he asked.

"Without a doubt" she reassured him with a smile.

Percy nodded and walked a few feet away before giving her a final smile and flashing himself away. Hera was left in the throne room alone, with only her thoughts to accompany her. She had seen right through Percy's smile, her being the goddess of the emotions having something to do with it. She knew that Percy had put on a brave face for her benefit, but she had seen it in his eyes. Or rather, hadn't. Percy's eyes, normally so expressive had been hollow with grief, the usual sea green shimmer all but absent. She shook her head sadly before transporting Annabeth's body to camp half blood and then flashing herself to Zeus' palace.

Percy materialized on the hill overlooking camp, right beside Peleus. The young dragon gave a low welcoming sound as Percy appeared. "Hey, boy" Percy said, patting Peleus' lowered head. Peleus made a pleased cat-like purr before nudging Percy playfully.

After a few minutes, Percy was able to take his leave of the young dragon and make his way down to camp. Most of the camp seemed deserted, and Percy knew why. It was about dinner time, and even at this distance, Percy could hear the low pitched rumble of many different conversations. When he reached the dining pavilion, he was struck by how mournful everything seemed.

The usually cheery voices of the campers were hushed and some of them were wearing sorrowful looks. Annabeth's brothers and sisters from the Athena cabin were completely silent, picking at their food. Percy saw some of his friends seated at their own tables. Jason was at the Zeus table, looking worried.

He was the first to see Percy and immediately jumped up. "Percy's back!" he yelled, already in the act of making his way to his cousin.

Reaching Percy, he gave him a strong hug. "Perce, you okay? We just got the news when we were sitting for dinner. I'm really sorry that…" he trailed off, the expression in his eyes making clear his worry for his cousin.

"Well, I'm coping fine, and I'll be up and about in a few days. You'll see" Percy said, feeling a slight pang of hurt as he lied to Jason.

Before Jason could say anything, all of Percy's closest friends reached the two, having been roused by Jason's yell. Katie gave him a strong, tearful hug, and Percy, not knowing what to do, gently patted her back until she had composed herself. Nico, Travis and Connor, and Will gave him comforting pats on the back, asking how he was doing and if they could help in any way. Clarisse, however, surprised him the most. The daughter of Ares had no word of condescension for him, for once. Instead, she settled for a pat on his arm before stepping back wordlessly. That in itself spoke volumes to Percy.

Chrome came galloping up just then. "Percy! What… what happened?" he asked, the expression on his face clearly betraying his sadness and anguish. Percy suddenly realized what Chiron must have been going through right now.

The centaur had been like a second father to Annabeth and had known her the longest of most everyone at camp. Her death would certainly have shocked and saddened him.

To comfort his mentor as well as he could, Percy took a step forward and gave Chiron a hug which was returned just a shade too hard, confirming Percy's thoughts. Looking over Chiron's shoulder, Percy realized that most demigods were still in their seats, although they looked like they wanted to get up.

Chiron, noticing where Percy was looking waved a hand off handedly. "I ordered them, rather loudly, to stay seated. They do listen to instructions, you know?"

Percy nodded. "Of course they do. Well, as for your question. Me and Annabeth were attacked by a small monster army. It was just me and her against 150 or so of them. We were doing well until… Annabeth jumped into a spear's path that was headed straight for my chest, there was no way I was dodging that. She saved my life" Percy said, his expression taut, giving away nothing as to his inner emotions.

Chiron nodded, with a watery smile. "It's just the kind of thing I'd expect from her" he said proudly. "Well, we must do her the honor she deserves. Lady Hera also sent us a funeral shroud, so we're all set to… to do it now" Chico said.

Percy nodded, a slight twinge of gratefulness towards Hera welling up inside him. "Let's do it" he said.

"Campers! To the beach" Chiron announced, striding towards the big house. Percy followed him, while his friends and Jason went to join the rest of the campers. There was a subdued silence between Percy and Chiron as they walked to the Big House to retrieve Annabeth's body and burial shroud, both lost in their own memories.

Upon seeing the shroud, Percy stopped short. It was elaborately woven, yet simple. It was colored grey with a pattern of brown owls along the borders. In the middle, it had a larger owl, with startlingly grey eyes that reminded Percy eerily of Annabeth. Annabeth's body was lying neatly inside the shroud. Upon seeing her face, a thousand memories he had with Annabeth made their way to the forefront of his mind, and it was all he could do to maintain his calm façade.

At Chiron's nod, Percy lifted the shroud from the front while Chiron did so from the back. Carefully, they made their way to the beach. The campers who had assembled on the beach parted to let them pass, creating a path down the middle of the group. Percy heard many sounds of wonder at the beautiful shroud and held his head higher, although he had no apparent reason to do so. They finally placed the shroud where the beach ended, ready to push out to sea. Malcolm Pace, Annabeth's sibling and until now, the junior counselor of the Athena cabin came to stand by them wordlessly. Solemnly, he put a drachma in Annabeth's pocket.

Percy knew that this was done to secure passage on Charon's ferry which would take her soul to the main Underworld where her soul would first be judged before she would placed in the Fields of Punishment, Asphodel or Elysium. Percy knew she would not yet achieve the Isles of Blest, but hoped that she made it to Elysium. Knowing the kind of demigod she had been, however, Percy had no doubts that she would.

Chiron held out his bow for Malcolm to take. An arrow would be lit with fire and when the shroud was a short distance away, would be fired upon and burnt. It was considered a matter of honor and the task would usually be undertaken by one of the deceased demigod's siblings. It came as a surprise to Percy when Malcolm bowed his head in respect and did not take the bow.

"Percy. I… we" he indicated his siblings, who were standing a short distance away "we would like you to do it. Annabeth spoke highly of you, and everyone knew how you two were inseparable, and all the quests you completed together are a testament to the fact" Malcolm said, voice surprisingly calm.

Percy nodded at once. "I will accept, of course. Thank you for the honor, Malcolm" Percy said formally.

Malcolm just nodded, his eyes now resting on his dead half-sister's face. He went close to the shroud and knelt next to it. He muttered a few words and then stepped back, going to stand just behind Percy. Many demigods now came forward to pay their final respects to Annabeth, Percy's friends among them. By the time it was over, many a face was moist with tears while others were on the brink.

It was Matthew and Chiron together who reached forward as one and pushed Annabeth's shroud lightly. Immediately the current took hold and Percy willed the currents to start taking the shroud out to sea. When it was 25 yards or so away, Chiron held out his bow to Percy.

"Thank you, Chiron, but I'd prefer to use my own" Percy said respectfully. As Chiron nodded, Percy twisted the ring on his finger, and his jet black bow appeared in his hand. He put his fingers on the bowstring and an arrow suddenly appeared. Most campers had not seen Percy with his bow and were stupefied by its beauty, nary a sound escaping their lips. The next moment, however, there were many strangled cried of surprise as the arrowhead caught flame, seemingly of its own accord. Percy took a step forwards, assumed his archery stance and drew back the string. He took a deep breath, let it out, and released. The arrow flew in a long, steady arc, swift and true and struck the shroud right in the center.

Percy had caused the flames on the arrow head to burn bright and strong, just a shade cooler than Greek fire, and this caused the shroud to catch fire at once. The whole shroud began to burn up, sending wisps of smoke into the air. It created an awe-inspiring sight, and the demigods stood transfixed for a while. After what seemed to be hours, the shroud finally burnt up completely and the Percy let the fire peter out.

Still murmuring amongst themselves in wonder, the campers headed towards their cabins without needing to be told. Chiron patted Percy on the back with a smile of comfort, although it was visibly weak. As Chiron left, walking sadly towards the big house, Percy's friends grouped around him.

Without being asked, Percy recounted the events of the past day, leaving nothing out, save his last conversation with Annabeth. His friends were good listeners, asking question at just the right time. All of them were wearing differing expressions of sadness and loss. Even Jason and Leo, who had not known Annabeth for too long were forlorn. Katie, who had known Annabeth since she had come to camp had a lost, gaunt look in her eyes.

The daughter of Demeter burst into tears when Percy spoke of how Annabeth had thrown herself into the spear's path. Without a hint of hesitation, Percy put his arms around her, holding her close as she let her grief go. After an eternity, she pulled back, giving him a tearful smile as she did.

"I can't even imagine how you'd be feeling right now" Leo spoke up, his voice forlorn.

"I'll be fine, Leo. Thanks for your support" Percy said, his voice even.

Katie glared at him, her cheeks moist while Clarisse did the same. The daughter of Ares was not crying but she was deathly silent, something which spoke of her true feelings. Percy noticed the twin glares and tried to give them an innocent look. Already, he knew what they were going to ask.

"Umm… What is it guys?" he asked.

"You've got that look in your face, Prissy" Clarissa growled.

"What look?" Percy asked, trying his best to keep his face expressionless.

"The one that suggests you're about to do something stupid" Katie spoke up, confirming Percy's hunch.

 _I should have figured they'd catch on immediately_ Percy thought ruefully. _I can't let them know that I'm going. They'll try to stop me, to keep me here. They won't understand that I need to get away._ Bile rose in his throat as he lied to his friends. "Honestly, guys, I'm not gonna do anything" he said, trying to keep his voice from breaking.

Clarisse _harrumphed_ but dropped it, while Katie flashed him a cold glare. Jason bailed Percy out. "Guys, we've had a long day. We should turn in, we're all pretty shaken up" he said, before almost laughing at the rather comical look of relief on Percy's face as he flashed him a smile.

Their friends nodded, accepting the suggestion. Saying goodnight, they headed off to their own cabins, leaving Jason alone with Percy and Katie, who was standing stock still, her eyes lacking their usual cheery shine.

Without warning, she rushed forwards into Percy's arms for the second time that night. Percy, of course, had no clue how to handle it and tensed momentarily before haltingly putting his arms around Katie. "Percy, please don't do anything stupid" Katie whispered, making Percy's already broken heart feel a pang of guilt.

After a time she pulled back, said good night to Jason as well and headed back to her cabin. "I'll walk with you to your cabin" Jason said, falling into step beside Percy. They walked in silence for a while, each lost in their own thoughts. Jason finally spoke. "Good luck Perce. You stay safe, wherever you're going" he said solemnly clapping Percy on the back.

Percy suddenly halted, muted surprise in his eyes. Because of his sudden astonishment, Percy did not even think to lie. "How did you know?" he asked simply as they continued walking.

Jason scratched the back of his neck as he thought about it. "I think it's because I would wanna do the same, if something like this happened to me. I would want to get away from everything for a while, take life at my own pace, you know?"

Percy nodded. "That's it exactly. But it's no big deal, I'll be back. I can't say for sure when that'll happen, but I will be back" he said easily.

"I'll cover for you as long as I can" Jason said, before a thought came to him. "On second thought, I won't cover for you. I don't fancy getting maimed by Clarisse" he winced.

Percy grinned. "You haven't even seen Katie in a real rage yet."

"I don't think I want to" Jason chuckled wryly, and was joined by Percy.

"Well, don't worry, I'll write a note. You just have to act surprised when they come looking for me in the morning and find the note" Percy said.

Jason nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Perce."

By this time, they had reached the Poseidon cabin. "No, Jason. Thank you. For everything" Percy said honestly.

"What'd I do?" Jason asked confusedly.

"I dunno, I just felt like saying it" Percy said honestly.

"Since we're being all fluff-y now, I'll miss you. It was great, the time I spent with you the past few weeks" Jason said, chuckling slightly.

Percy let out a chortle. "Likewise, bro. Good luck here. I'll be back soon enough. Who knows, maybe you'll be back at camp Jupiter by then. If so, I'll come visit you there."

"Of course" Jason nodded and the two cousins hugged, shortly but meaningfully.

"Night Jase. See you soon" Percy said, managing to keep his voice somewhat cheery.

"See ya Perce" Jason replied before turning around and slowly stalking off towards his own cabin.

Percy stood rooted to the same spot, making mental pictures of all his friends at camp half blood, committing them to his memory. He felt a pang of sadness as he thought about Reyna, Gwen, Hazel and Frank at camp Jupiter. It had been a long time since he had left camp Jupiter. His attempts to iris message them had failed unexplainably.

"I can see you're going to miss them" said a soft voice, startling him out of his brooding state. He whirled and saw that it was Lady Hera.

Immediately, he bowed, noting Hera's displeased expression as he straightened again.

"Must you do that?" she asked exasperatedly.

Percy only smiled innocently. "It's out of respect for you that I bow to you, Lady He… Mom" he said. Even now, he had trouble coming to grips with the fact that Hera had actually adopted him.

She waved a hand dismissively. "I already know that."

"A constant reminder doesn't hurt" Percy said, grinning mischievously, causing Hera to let out a small snort which was immediately suppressed.

"I'm certain arguing with you isn't going to change your mind on this" she said, yielding. Percy's only reply was a half smirk. "Oh well. I paid a visit to the Amazons, along with Athena. She is their major patron goddess, above me since she's more warlike" Hera explained.

"Does she know about my going there to train?" Percy asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry, but I had to tell her" Hera said, slightly tensing.

Percy smiled comfortingly. "It's okay. I trust lady Athena to not tell anyone. Besides, a couple of the gods should know where I am, in case there's an emergency."

"True" Hera replied. "Well, everything is settled. We haven't revealed your identity to the Amazons yet. We just told them that a demigod would stay with them to receive further training." Percy nodded in understanding. "Shall we?" Hera asked.

Percy nodded and immediately found himself engulfed in a bright flash of white light. They appeared right in front of a sprawling warehouse with the words emblazoned on the grey and white walls in a shade of orange.

"We are in Seattle" Herald explained. "This is the Amazon headquarters. This is where the Amazon queen sits her throne."

Percy nodded. "What is the name of their current queen?" he asked curiously.

"You'll find out soon enough" the deity replied. "I have a feeling you'll recognize her" Hera supplied, arousing his curiosity even more.

Together. The two walked towards the revolving doors under the sign which indicated that it was the reception they were headed towards. Percy stepped in front of Hera and pushed the door open for her. The queen of the gods nodded in thanks and entered, Percy by her side.

The room was nondescript, as could be expected of a normal warehouse, or what looked like a normal warehouse, anyways, Percy thought, chuckling to himself. The walls were a drab grey, as were the few armchairs that were placed at one side of the room.

Behind the receptionist's desk, a fair skinned young woman was seated. She had brown hair and was wearing a black suit, and was in the act of typing something into a computer. She did not look up when the two entered, engrossed as she was.

"Good evening, what can I… Oh, my lady Hera, it is an honor" the girl said, having looked up and seen her visitors. She bowed smartly before rising and appraising Percy. "Is this the demigod?" she asked.

"It is" Hera confirmed.

"Very good, my lady. Our queen is waiting in the throne room" the girl said respectfully. "I am to take you to her, if it pleases you."

"It does" Hera said with a smile in Percy's direction.

As soon as the receptionist rose from her desk, a door opened and another girl of about the same age stepped out. She bowed to Hera and nodded to her colleague before taking a seat at the desk.

The receptionist who had received them opened another door and held it open for Percy and Hera. As they walked along a dimly lit corridor, the girl turned to Percy. "My name's Kinzie, by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Kinzie" Percy said affably. "I'm Percy."

"Perc… Wait… The Percy Jackson!? Savior of Olympus? Slayer of Kronos?" she asked in a machine gun manner, a spark in her eyes.

"Well, yeah" Percy said, squirming slightly, feeling self conscious.

Suddenly, right in front of Hera, Kinzie latched onto Percy's arm. "You will give me an autograph won't you?" she asked, leaning on him and looking right into his eyes.

Percy averted his own eyes quickly, looking anywhere but at her. Hera, amused, stifled a laugh, covering it up with a soft cough. As if suddenly reminded of the Queen of the gods' presence, Kinzie let go of Percy's arm and walked a couple steps ahead, blushing slightly. She opened another door and Percy stopped dead, awed by the size of the room they were now in.

A cavernous room stretched around him in every direction. Containers upon containers were piled on top of each other in orderly formations while smaller boxes and packages were kept a short distance away. Forklifts were zooming across the floor here and there while men worked together to lift boxes onto special carts. It was all extremely efficient to Percy.

Percy, however, was most caught off guard by the workers. All of them were men, wearing orange work clothes and orange hardhats. Aside from that, all of them were wearing iron collars. The only women Percy noticed seemed to be doing administrative and officer's work. Female guards were dotted throughout the room in pairs of two. The guards were wearing light armor, colored a dark shade of green. All were carrying long spears in their hands, with short swords at their waists.

Kinzie had noticed him looking at the workers. "We only use males for the grunt work. Some of them are our boyfriends or husbands. Most of them are prisoners of war" she explained helpfully. She led them across the room to where another door stood. This one, however, had a pair of guards flanking it on both sides.

Upon seeing Kinzie, the guards nodded a greeting, giving a short bow to Hera. One of them turned swiftly and opened the door before stepping back and standing to attention. Kinzie nodded at them to go through. The door opened into a short corridor at the end of which light could be seen and the murmur of conversation be heard. The tunnel itself was lit by torches and braziers on the wall instead of electric light.

At the end of the corridor were two more guards. These had bows slung over their backs in addition to the spears and were carrying shields in one hand. "These are some of the best amazon warriors. Second only to the warrior class I'm in" Kinzie said.

"You?" Percy asked, a trace of incredulousness creeping into his voice.

"Why yes" she smirked. "I could wipe the floor with you any day, hero of Olympus though you may be."

"We'll find out soon enough" Percy said out of the corner of his mouth, making her grin.

By this time, they had reached the corridor's end and the guards waved them on. The throne room of the amazons was huge. A hollow circular room, completely empty of objects except for a splendid throne at the far end of the room. The throne, while not exuding the level of beauty of the Olympians' thrones, was quite marvelous in its own right. It was made of a stone Percy did not recognize, black with grey and white patters embedded into it. Jewels decorated the arms and the area above the headrest, glimmering in the light thrown from the braziers and numerous torches.

Percy then looked upon the queen and his heart suddenly lifted. He rushed forward to stand but a few feet from the throne. Kinzie gave a yelp of surprise and ran after him, fleet and swift, while Hera brought up the rear calmly, having known this was going to happen.

Percy looked more closely. The features were right. The same long black hair, the piercing black eyes, vitality coursing through them. The same poise, regal bearing. But there was something different about her, something which he couldn't seem to lay a finger on.

As Percy had come forward rather quickly without warning, a pair of guards had come to intercept him, classifying him as a potential threat. When he stopped however, and they were satisfied that he meant no harm, they retreated to either sides of the throne. The queens eyes were fixed upon his own.

"Re… Reyna?" he asked hesitantly.

Masked wonder shone in her dark orbs. "I am Hylla. Might I ask how you know my sister?"

Now Percy saw it. The small difference, which had been nagging him. The female was slightly older than Reyna, maybe around 20 years. "I. I was at camp Jupiter for a time. I befriended her."

Hylla had now adopted a slightly vacant expression, tapping the side of her head. Her eyes suddenly focused. "You're that demigod who sacked Circe's island with that daughter of Athena!" she exclaimed hotly.

"Perseus Jackson" Percy introduced himself, eyeing her warily.

"For days on end, when we were in the captivity of the pirates, we cursed you and your friend" Hylla said, the fire not completely gone from her eyes. "It has been long since that event occurred, however. I will give you another chance, Perseus" she said, calming down.

Percy nodded. "I will not disappoint you, Hylla."

Hera now broke in. "Hylla, see to it that he receives the highest level of your training. I will take him away a short time after the completion of his training" she announced.

Hylla bowed her head, but wonder shone in her eyes. "That is, of course, acceptable. But my lady…" she trailed off.

Hera looked amused. "You may speak freely."

"My lady, no one who is currently alive has completed the highest training. Only the amazons of old were as highly trained. Even the name of those levels have been lost through the passage of time." Hylla said.

"Perseus will be up to the task. As to that, I am confident. Hephaestus also gifted you thousand of his best automatons, I remember. Will you use those?"

"Yes, my lady. They have been programmed the right way and pose a dangerous challenge. Even my most seasoned warriors including myself have not managed to defeat more than three at a time."

"Impressive" Hera said, to the surprise of Percy, who literally burned through Hephaestus' auto bots during his own training.. "Hephaestus himself told me that even the strongest demigods could barely take on two at once and win."

Hylla's head lifted in pride. "We are no common demigods, my lady."

"Very true" Hera smiled. "Good luck, Hylla. I sense dark times ahead. May you have the strength to face them. I must now take my leave. I would say farewell to Perseus."

"Of course, my lady" Hylla said respectfully. "Thank you for your kind words, my lady. We will give you some privacy" she said, signaling her guards and Kinzie to follow and walking towards a door behind throne, almost impossible to make out since it was exactly of the same material and was the same color and hue of the wall around it.

Once the door had closed behind the group of amazons, Percy spoke. "I… mom, thank you for this. I could have thought of nothing better to do."

"Hush, Perseus. It was no problem. I know that you will train hard and hone your skills farther. The amazons, although they have not actively fought in many wars, are one of, if not the most skilled group of demigods." Hera uttered.

Percy smiled at her. "I will, mom. Give my warmest regards and love to lady Hestia and my dad, if you will."

"Of course" she said. She was about to continue when Percy almost slammed into her, hugging her. She immediately knew the cause. Percy was probably feeling overwhelming pain, even now, and would continue to do so for a long time yet. It was the best she could do, get him to train and keep him occupied. Already, she feared the cause of Annabeth's death, and prayed that Percy did not find out. If he did so, no doubt he would end up doing something rash, endangering himself without a second thought.

She therefore hugged Percy back comfortingly. "Be strong, Perseus" she said, making him mock glare at her. She just gave him a devilish smirk.

"See you, mom. Stay safe." Percy said, pulling back.

Hera nodded and smiled at him before vanishing in a vortex of bright white light, bright enough for Percy to have to cover his eyes, despite how he usually would usually not have to do so. As soon as Hera had left, Hylla reentered the room with Kinzie and her two guards.

"Perseus, it is now late. You will be shown to your room and be woken up at 6am to start your training." Hylla announced.

"Of course, Hylla" Percy said.

Hylla nodded to Kinzie who came forwards at once. "Let's go Percy! I'll be showing you to your room."

"What are we waiting for then?" Percy smirked, making her grin again.

Kinzie walked ahead of him again, leading the way. Throughout the path to his room, Percy examined and memorized all the features he could, making himself completely aware of his surroundings. A number of twisting turns, brightly lit corridors and a couple large warehouse rooms later, they arrived at Percy's room. Looking at the identical doors surrounding the one to his room, Percy deduced that this block of the amazons' headquarters consisted of housing units.

"Will you be needing anything Percy?" Kinzie asked him, handing him the key to the room.

"Thanks Kinzie, but I'm sure I'll manage well enough for one night" Percy said dryly.

"Well, see you tomorrow then. Goodnight!" Kinzie said, flashing him a bright smile.

"Night" Percy smiled back. As soon as the door had closed behind her, he locked the door and let out a wide yawn. Too tired to do anything but to go to the bathroom and change into more comfortable clothes. As he was doing so, he realized that he had been wearing the remaining tatters of the clothes he had worn that morning when he had gotten ready for his date with Annabeth.

He flopped onto his bed, a pang of loss coursing through him. The adrenaline and will to push forward that had kept him going throughout the day suddenly left him and he was overwhelmed by weariness. If a comfortable night of sleep was what Percy had been wishing for however, he was to be sorely disappointed.

He had barely closed his eyes when a window into his mind was forced open. "Percy Jackson" the malicious voice rumbled….

 **AN: hahaha, how about that for a cliffhanger? I'm sorry guys, you'll have to wait at while to find out. I have exams starting Monday and I won't be free for two weeks. After that I'll start posting chapters, although at a slower rate.**

 **If any of you are wondering why I'm having exams while most schools in America have let up for the summer, well, here's an explanation. For the past two months or so, I've been on vacation in Europe, having taken a sabbatical from school and now I have to give them a bit later than I usually would be while my classmates are enjoying their vacations :D yeah…**

 **And now, for the ending. I really do hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, although there wasn't really any action in it. Review, favorite, follow. Seriously, review! I need reviews ! Haha, no pressure. See you guys around though. I'll miss yall ^/^** ◢◤


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